Darkness Returns
by Silvermoon816
Summary: Voldemort has been defeated, the Wizards believe they are in the clear. But a new kind of evil is coming, a kind they have never met before. With the help of some demigods can they hope to stop the forces of evil at their doorstep, and in their own walls. Set after DH and BoO. I don't own a thing! Abandoned.
1. Chapter 1: The Quest

**Percy**

"Percy.." The words just barely made it to him. "Wake up.."

He opened his eyes and came face to face with Annabeth. He sat himself up and Annabeth sat down beside him. Her face looked worried, her grey eyes churned with stormy clouds.

"What is it?" Percy asked, placing his hand on his girlfriend's. She looked him straight in the eyes.

"Chiron has a quest, for us," she said gravely. "And the rest of the Argo II crew. We're leaving tomorrow morning."

KPercy took a moment to process then pushed back his covers and stood, he was still wearing his clothes from the day before, they were disheveled but wearable. He grabbed Annabeth's wrist and lead her out the door of the Poseidon cabin.

Eventually she pulled her arm free and kept up with his pace. He stormed up he steps of the Big House and gave a few sharp knocks on the door. A familiar centaur greeted them. But Percy didn't care for pleasantries.

Percy and Annabeth exchanged glances then followed Chiron inside. They sat down around the Ping-Pong table and waited for the others. Within ten minutes they had the whole crew present.

"I know this is very last minute," said Chiron. "But we can't wait any longer. The wizarding world is in danger."

"Wizards?" Asked Leo. "You mean like pointy hatted dudes with magic sticks?"

"In essence, yes," replied Chiron. "The biggest threat to the wizarding world has recently been destroyed. But I fear it is only the beginning. With the death of my old friend Albus, I've had no news of their realm. I want to send you seven to Hogwarts as exchange students, to collect information for me, and to help protect the students. I've heard rumours of kidnappings, and I don't want anyone else to be in danger."

"Hold up," said Piper. "Are we going to have to take magic classes there? Do we need magic? Are we just going as demigods?"

"You will need to go undercover as wizards and learn spells and take their classes," answered Chiron. "We don't want to start a riot, the Wizards have no knowledge of the gods, and we don't want to frighten them more."

"So about the magic part," said Leo. "We don't have any of it."

"Yes it does seem like a troubling problem, doesn't it," said Chiron. "But, Lady Hecate has agreed to gift you with wizarding powers for the duration of your quest. She should be arriving this afternoon."

"I'm going to go pack," said Annabeth. She stood and left. Slowly the rest of the campers dispersed, Percy solemnly marched back to his cabin and began to throw his belongings into a bag. Which wasn't much. A few extra camp shirts, some shorts, a Minotaur horn, and a photo of the Argo II crew.

As soon as he was zipping his duffle bag shut, Annabeth appeared in the door. "Hecate's here."

"But it's like ten o'clock," Percy groaned.

"She's a goddess, time and following others commands aren't really her thing, just be glad she showed."

Percy shouldered his bag and followed her to the forest, they stopped in a clearing where Piper and Leo sat, deep in discussion. Leo was tinkering with some parts and Piper was pulling up grass and watching it float on the wind. The pair sat down next to them and joined in in their discussion about their quest.

Soon Jason, Hazel, and Frank showed up, having just returned from Camp Jupiter last night, they still had some things to do. They all sat down in a circle when Chiron galloped into the clearing, Hecate was by his side.

"I don't like to give away magic," she said. "It gives mortals too much power, but you all have earned it. Use it well."

Seven orbs appeared in the air, they were all golden and translucent. One hovered above each of the seven. Then all at once they dropped and were absorbed by their bodies. Annabeth seemed the most shocked when it happened, she'd never had powers before, unlike the others.

"Now for your wands, I don't want you going there looking like fools," said Hecate. "I've had them specially made. For Percy cedar with a pegasus feather core."

"For Annabeth walnut with owls feather core."

"For Jason ebony with imperial gold core."

"For Piper willow with doves feather core."

"For Frank cypress with eagles feather core."

"For Hazel aspen with a hair from Arion himself."

"And for Leo, a fire-proof redwood with a Phoenix feather core."

The wands flew to their new owners, they all looked at them in awe, when they glanced up, Hecate was gone. Chiron left and the demigods began discussing what just happened. Percy swished his wand around in air, sparks flying aimlessly.

"Put that down before you kill one of us," said Annabeth. "I don't trust you with magic. I don't trust anything with magic. There's a reason demigods don't wield it."

"Well get used to it," replied Jason. "We're being sent away to a magic school tomorrow. I think we'll have to cast a couple spells to keep our cover."

The demigods hung out for the rest of the day, practicing with their swords, canoeing in the lake, Percy almost tipped the boat a few times by sending waves through the lake. They sat together at the campfire and watched the night fade away.

Percy gave Annabeth a good night kiss then retreated to his cabin. He flopped on his bed, almost crushing his new wand, before falling asleep. But being a demigod, sleep was anything but peaceful.


	2. Chapter 2: Diagon Alley

**Percy**

 _Percy was standing in a forest surrounded by trees with long, claw like branches. Darkness surrounded him, closing around him like a cocoon. A cold voice reached out through the night, it was so quiet, Percy almost couldn't hear it._

 _"They come," it hissed. "We shall be ready for their arrival. What is the plan m'lord?"_

 _A second voice, a horrid low voice that radiated power, responded. "Intercept them while they are away from their counsellor." It paused. "What is that?"_

 _Percy froze. A creature began coming towards him, it crunched sticks and leaves with no regard to stealth. Suddenly a winged demon came into view, it's claws were sharp as daggers, it's teeth were yellowed and lethal._

 _Percy wanted to move but couldn't, the demon's eyes blazed into his own, bringing up every feeling of fear he'd ever had. Tartarus was brought forward with such force he screamed. The demon waved his hand and Percy jolted awake._

Percy's eyes snapped open and he realized he was screaming. He closed his mouth but his body kept shaking. Jason burst into the door and Annabeth followed closely. Percy quickly explained his dream, Annabeth looked worried, Jason paid close attention to every detail.

Soon the sun rose up over the horizon and Jason left to notify Chiron. Annabeth held Percy's hand and leaned on his shoulder. "Are you worried?" She asked.

"Yeah," Percy replied. "One of these days, I'm going to go into a battle and not come back. This school could bring up a whole new war. I just don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you either." Annabeth placed a kiss on his lips. "We should get going, we need to leave soon."

Annabeth dropped Percy's hand then left the cabin. Percy got dressed then grabbed his bags. He didn't bother brushing his hair, it never did anything anyway, so he left and met the others on the porch of the Big House.

"Follow me please," said Chiron. " We have a schedule to keep."

Chiron lead them to the crest half blood hill, then he took out a crystal ball. He handed it to Hazel, he handed another to Annabeth with a golden key, and a final one to Jason.

"Smash them on the ground and you will be transported to Diagon alley," Chiron explained. "I've made reservations for you all. I have a bank account there with some wizard money, I'm letting you use it, please don't waste it."

Frank held on to Hazel and she smashed the ball. A tunnel of air swirled around them and they vanished. Piper grabbed Jason's left side and Leo held tight to his right, looking quite worried. Jason smashed the ball and they too vanished.

Percy wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and she smashed the crystal. Air tousled their hair and clothes, their bags hit their limbs, and their feet left the ground. Suddenly the world spun and they landed, all air dissipating.

Around them the others looked around at the street. Annabeth's jaw dropped as she looked at a huge bank with beautiful architecture. Percy was more focused on their hotel, 'Grettevel's Inn.'

People in cloaks sat in the lobby reading magazines where the photos smiled and waved at them. Luggage floated at the sides of wizards and witches and small creatures ran around giving directions. Soon everyone was watching the chaos of their new home for the next week.

The group walked into the hotel and tried to get to the front desk. People seemed to always get in the way every time they moved in any direction. After a few minutes they made it and asked for their room.

"Rooms 12 and 13, second floor." The man handed them two keys and the group split, the girls claimed twelve so the boys were left thirteen.

They climbed the velvet stairs and walked down the hall. It looked nice enough, the only thing that made Percy wary were the portraits. They talked and pointed at the demigods, Percy feel like slashing them with Riptide but decided against it.

"Weird clothes they wear," said a thin, boney lady.

"Odd accents they have," said a man in a top hat.

"Get this one to stop poking me!" Hollered a fat man. Leo kept touching the frame trying to figure out how it worked. Piper dragged him away and apologized to the painting.

Frank unlocked the boys room, Leo ran in and jumped on a bed, claiming it as his own. Jason dropped his luggage on another and began fiddling with his wand. Frank looked around the room, checking out all the amenities, like a small bathroom and a single closet. Percy rummaged through his suitcase, double checking he hadn't forgot anything.

Just Percy's luck, he had forgotten a toothbrush.

"I'm going to go try to a find a store that sells toothbrushes," Percy said. "Anyone want to come?"

Leo jumped up and followed Percy out the door. They first decided they should go to the bank, so Percy invited Annabeth to come. She agreed and walked with the boys down the cobblestone street. She kept pointing out all the buildings and architectural techniques. Percy zoned out after a few minutes.

They entered the bank and Annabeth was stunned, marble and gold covered the room and goblins milled around. One came up to them and asked what their vault was.

"Uh, Annabeth?" Asked Leo. "Do you know, I wasn't paying attention."

"Vault 458," she replied. The goblin asked for their key, Annabeth handed him one and he lead them to a cart.

Percy had just finished sitting down when it shot off like a rocket. Sharp twists and turns sent them deeper and deeper underground. After a moment their ride stopped abruptly and the goblin unlocked the door.

A few piles of gold and silver sat in the room. Annabeth walked up and filled a bag with some coins. She came back to the cart and it sped off again. When they reached the bank again Percy felt too dizzy to stand. He tumbled out of the cart and smashed his head against the ground.

Annabeth pulled him up while Leo laughed. Percy scowled at him and rubbed his head. They left the bank, much to Annabeth's dispare. They wandered the streets looking for a general store, but it was harder than it seemed. Every other shop intrigued the group, Percy was particularly fond of a sweets shop. Annabeth had to drag him from the window.

Finally they found a shop that sold some basic things. Percy found a single, red toothbrush in the back of the shop. He went up to the counter to pay for it, and the woman said it cost 2 sickles.

"What are those?" He asked.

"The silver coins," sighed the lady. Percy handed two over and she handed him a bag with the toothbrush in it. "You're not from here, are you?"

"Exchange student." Percy hurriedly left the shop and waited outside. Leo eventually emerged from a candy shop with a bag of sweets. He and Percy split it while Annabeth looked in the bookstore.

"People look at us weirdly here," said Leo, popping a hard candy in his mouth.

"Yeah," Percy said. "I think it's our clothes, everyone here wears robes and cloaks. But there's a surprising lack of pointy hats."

Annabeth came back with a book 'A History of Hogwarts' tucked under her arm. Leo and Percy stood and followed her to the hotel. Suddenly something caught Percy's eye. He whipped around and saw a dark figure running through an alley between shops. It lifted off the ground and flew away.

"Guys!" Leo and Annabeth turned around and followed Percy's gaze. High in the air was a winged creature with terrible claws. It's huge leathery wings lifted it into the sky, Percy suddenly wished Jason was with him, he could get up there no problem. A flash of darkness struck the sky and the demon was gone.

"What's up with freaky dark dude?" Asked Leo.

"He was in my dream," Percy muttered. "The raspy hissing voice, that's him!"

"We can't worry about this now," said Annabeth. "We'll get back to the others and tell them about it. Plus tomorrow we need to get school uniforms, books, and other school supplies, we can't spend all our time chasing monsters."

Percy nodded and followed Annabeth warily. His hand was in his pocket, wrapped around Riptide. He wasn't going to get surprised, the next time that demon showed its face, Percy would slice it right off


	3. Chapter 3: The Scarlet Train

**Harry**

Harry loved Hogwarts, it was the place that saved him and provided a safe haven away from the Dursleys. But he was not exactly ecstatic when he was told he would need to return to take his seventh year.

One huge plus of going back to Hogwarts was he got to spend more time at the Burrow. He sat around the large wooden table surrounded by what felt like his true family. He was stress free for once in his life.

"We need to go to Diagon alley and pick up school supplies," said Mrs Weasley. "I got the school lists today so we're going before one of you destroys it."

Ron looked down sheepishly. For the last week he'd been destroying Hogwarts letters so he wouldn't have to go back. The group finished eating and headed out with Mrs Weasley to Diagon Alley.

Once they got there the small group of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny went to get new books and quills. Mrs Weasley went to go pick up some things and left them to get new uniforms. When they walked in they saw a large group already getting some uniforms. They looked to be about Harry's age, but he'd never seen them before.

A dark haired boy was getting measured for a robe muttering things like "stupid man dress," and "why in the world do I need a uniform." Eventually he stepped off the stool and another person stepped up.

Eventually the group left and Harry could get his new robes. They gave off a weird vibe to him. He'd remember if he ever saw anyone like them in his life. They had weird accents that he couldn't quite place.

Once everyone had gotten all their school supplies they went to get some ice cream. They sat down at a booth and Harry enjoyed some crazy chocolate chunk. It wasn't quite crazy for the wizarding world, but it sure was good.

The group from the tailors came in and ordered. They sat down at a booth on the other side of the shop. The dark haired boy looked over at Harry and his gaze stopped on his scar. He tapped the blonde sitting next to him, and she too looked over.

They looked away and talked in hushed tones to the rest of the group. "Who do you think they are?" Asked Harry, pointing to the group.

"Americans," said Hermione. "I heard them talking while they were getting robes. I could tell from their accents."

"I think they're weird," commented Ron.

"The seem to know who I am though," said Harry, putting another spoonful of ice cream in his mouth. "You think news spread to America?"

"Possibly," replied Ginny. "They are wizards after all. Maybe they read something about you."

Harry nodded and went back to his ice cream. Mrs Weasley came into the shop and hastened them to finish so they could leave, she had a bag full of items in her hand, random household goods and magical oddities were piled to the brim.

Harry grabbed his bag and followed Mrs Weasley out the door to a fireplace that connected to the Floo network. He took a final glance around Diagon Alley. He sprinkled some Floo powder in the fireplace and screamed "The Burrow!"

 **Percy**

After a week in the wizarding world Percy thought he couldn't be surprised, he was mistaken. Running through a brick wall to get to a train station, that was new.

"You've got to be kidding me," said Leo. "Jason should go first, he's used to getting hit with bricks!"

Everyone laughed getting a few looks from passersby.

"Fine, I'll go," said Jason. He looked around for people but no one was looking. He ran at full speed towards the wall. Percy expected to hear a slam and the cracking of bones but Jason went right through.

"Freaky," said Percy. "Who's next?"

"I'll go," said Frank. He sprinted at the wall and went through. Hazel followed him in, closely being trailed by Piper and Leo.

"After you Wisegirl."

Annabeth ran into the wall and vanished. Percy readied himself to go and ran at the wall. He slammed into it and fell backwards onto the floor. He was dazed and confused.

"It won't work when mugges are watching," said a girl. She extended a hand and pulled him up. When he came back to his senses he saw a group of four teenagers staring back at him.

His eyes stopped on a dark haired boy with a lightning scar, Harry Potter. It had been drilled into his head by Annabeth. He noticed Percy staring and looked away.

"Try again now," said the girl who helped him up. "My name's Ginny by the way."

"Percy," he called as he took another run at the wall. This time he came through and saw a scarlet train blowing steam.

"What took you so long?" Asked Piper.

Percy quickly explained what happened as they boarded the train. They tried to find an empty compartment but couldn't find one, they resorted to sitting with a dark haired girl.

She looked up and her dazzling green eyes pierced them. The train started and the compartment door closed. This unnerved Percy, he got up to open it again but it remained shut.

"Nice try demigod," hissed the girl.

She rose and struck out a hand with sharp nails. They extended into claws and fangs grew in her open, hissing mouth. Her hair flowed around her shoulders and her whole body glowed a sickly green.

"I really don't think she's a student here," said Percy drawing Riptide. The rest of the demigods stood and drew their weapons.

The monster hissed and the demigods attacked.


	4. Chapter 4: The Gryffindors

**Annabeth**

Annabeth flung open her trunk (which she'd bought while in Diagon Alley) and rummaged through it. Her hand grasped a leather handle under her clothes and she pulled free her drakon bone sword. She turned back and saw the demon was turning the weapons away from herself. With a flick of her wrist, green smoke pushed aside the incoming swords and daggers.

Annabeth wanted to sneak around back, but the demon had trapped them in a small space, and there was no way Annabeth could maneuver through the other demigods. Think, she told herself, you've gotten out of harder situations than this.

Magic!

She dropped her sword and pulled out her wand, she'd learned a few spells from one of her textbooks, and she intended to use them. She waited for a clear shot. It came as Piper was thrown back, iron gripping her dagger.

"Stupefy!" She screamed! The spell didn't do anything to the demon.

"We need more power!" Cried Annabeth. "Drop your weapons and get your wands!"

Soon everyone had dropped their weapons and had their wands towards the demon. She tried to send them away with her powers, but the wands didn't budge. Annabeth nodded to the others. She'd drilled this one spell into their heads.

"STUPEFY!" They screamed as one. The demon froze and Percy ran up and slashed it with Riptide. Gold dust floated everywhere and the demigods began to put away their wands and weapons.

Frank pushed the door and it opened. He shut it again. Annabeth thought this was a good idea, she didn't want anyone coming in asking why they were covered in disintegrated monster.

The remainder of the train ride was uneventful, which made the whole compartment of ADHD kids very fidgety. Finally they decided that they were close enough to the school to put on their robes. Annabeth thought they were restrictive. These weren't good for battle, but wizards battled with wands from a distance, so it didn't matter to them.

The train stopped and the group got off, staying together. They were told to leave their luggage on the train, it would be brought to their dorms. Annabeth didn't want to leave her sword, but she knew she couldn't take it. If they got attached, magic would be her weapon.

The first thing Annabeth saw were the horses. Skeletal horses. They were pulling carriages, most people didn't seem to notice them. Maybe it was a wizard thing?

The demigods split into two groups. Annabeth was with Percy, Piper, and Leo. They all got in the carriage and they rode to the castle. Annabeth was floored by it. So much architecture. So much history. Her year was suddenly looking up.

They stopped in front of the school. They followed a group into the great hall. A teacher pulled them aside. She waited a few moments then beckoned the other demigods over.

"You're the exchange students, correct?" She asked. The demigods nodded. "You will be staying in my house for your year here. I am Headmistress Mcgonagall, head of Gryffindor house."

She showed them to the Gryffindor table and the demigods sat down. Annabeth immediately noticed Harry Potter, he was sitting a few people down. The people he was with in Diagon Alley were sitting near him.

Annabeth looked around the room for anymore familiar faces but couldn't see any. She watched the ceiling, she'd read all about it. Granted it was rather hard. Apparently wizards don't sell books in Ancient Greek.

McGonagall gave a short welcoming speech, mentioning some rules, the exchange students, and teacher changes. The new defence against the dark arts teacher was someone by the name of Professeur Goldbane. He was tall, bulky, and wore basic robes. But what set him apart was the gold pendant around his neck. It glimmered in the candle light and drew in Annabeth's attention.

Soon the feast began. Without a hearth, the demigods decided to say a little prayer. They didn't want some god getting hurt by not being respected. They couldn't deal with an angry god right now.

The food was delicious to say the least. Afterwards the demigods followed their fellow Gryffindors up to the common room. Annabeth was intrigued by the painting that guarded their dorms. She couldn't get enough of this crazy magic school!

Annabeth found her way to her dorm and found her trunk waiting at the end of her bed. She looked through it, and was relieved when she found her sword. She also double checked for her bronze dagger. It wasn't the original, but she could conceal it better than her sword.

The frizzy haired friend of Harry walked in. Annabeth buried her blades in her trunk and pulled out 'A History of Hogwarts.' She sat on her bed and tried to read it. It was hard with dyslexia.

"Do you like it?" The girl asked.

"Yeah, you've read it?"

She nodded. "I'm Hermione."

"I'm Annabeth," she replied. "So about the war that happened last year, Harry defeated Voldemort, right?"

"Yeah," Hermione said. "But everyone helped to destroy the horcruxes."

"What are horcruxes?" Asked Annabeth. Were they something all wizards had?

"They are objects that hold a piece of a person's soul," Hermione replied, sitting on her bed. "They're powerful dark magic. You must kill to split your soul."

Annabeth went back to her book. Hermione pulled out one of her own. They sat in silence for a while, Annabeth eventually decided to put on her pajamas and got to sleep.

She put on a CHB shirt and a pair of grey cotton shorts. It felt good to be out of the uniform. She set her wand on her bedside table and buried herself in her covers. They were soft and welcoming. For a moment she forgot about the fears of sleep, the fears of dreams.

Annabeth heard Hazel and Piper enter the room. She sat upright and talked to them for a few minutes. They too put on their pajamas and cozied up in bed. Annabeth payed back down and drifted off into a dreamless sleep. Pure peace.

But peace doesn't last long when you're on a quest.


	5. Chapter 5: The Start of Classes

**Annabeth**

Annabeth awoke to the sun pulling itself up over the horizon. None of the other girls were awake yet, Annabeth got out of bed and got dressed. She didn't like putting the uniform on, it was different and uncomfortable.

Annabeth hid her dagger under her uniform and grabbed her wand. She grabbed the basic spell book Chiron had given her and walked down to common room. No one else was there so she sat by the fire and flipped through the pages. She tried to find spells that were practical and could help against monsters.

Apparently those are too hard for an easy textbook.

She practiced Lumos, Wingardium Leviosa, and read over the note Chiron had written in, Obliviate. She couldn't practice it but worked on memorizing it. When people began to wake, Annabeth went back to her dorm and put away the book.

Piper came up to Annabeth dressed in her uniform. A harpy feather was in her hair and her kaleidoscope eyes twinkled. Hazel appeared behind her. Even though only Annabeth and Percy were the actual age of seventh years, everyone was being put in that year. Chiron had said that they could all handle the classes, so he had said that was their year.

Plus, none of the demigods wanted to leave any of the others. They were in this together.

"What do we have first?" Asked Piper.

"Potions," replied Annabeth. "Followed by Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Okay," sighed Piper. "Wanna see if any of the boys bothered waking up?"

"Sure."

The trio left the room and began to head towards the boys dorm. They knocked on the door and a ginger answered. He looked sleepy and it took him a good few seconds to realize who was at the door.

"What do you want, you know this isn't your dorm, right?" He asked.

"Yeah," said Piper. "Can you just let us in?"

Th ginger let them in. Annabeth wasn't sure if Piper had used Charmspeak or not. Either way they were in. They spotted the demigods right away.

Jason was dressed and ready to go, he was currently trying to wake Percy. Frank was trying to tie his tie, resulting in a knot. And Leo was in his pajamas, he looked like he had just woken up. The Gryffindor boys were mostly dressed and ready to leave for breakfast.

Hazel walked up to Frank and helped him with his tie, she had to stand on her toes to reach. It kind of looked adorable. Annabeth walked over to Percy. She knelt down beside him and spoke into his ear.

"Wake up."

He stirred. Her voice was the one thing that could wake Percy no matter how tired he was. He leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on Annabeth's lips.

"Good morning," he said running his fingers through his messy hair.

"How'd you sleep?" Annabeth asked. Most people didn't give this much thought. But sleep could be terrifying being a demigod.

"Surprisingly well," he said.

"Good."

Percy got out of the sheets and grabbed some clothes. He went to get dressed and Annabeth went over to where the others, minus Leo, were talking. Jason had his arm around Piper, she leaned into him and smiled.

"Did you guys know they have a sport here that uses flying broomsticks?" Asked Jason. "Tryouts are soon. I might join, anyone else?"

"No thanks," said Frank. "Not all our fathers rule the sky."

"That's a no for me," replied Hazel. "Your dad could shoot me out of the sky for just being there."

"Same," said Percy as he walked up. Annabeth turned and helped him with his tie and collar. He didn't bother trying to look professional, he just set the tie around his neck and left his collar undone.

"No one?" Asked Jason.

Everyone shook their heads. He looked slightly crushed, like he wanted all his friends to join him. But it just wasn't everyone's thing. The group waited for Leo then went down to breakfast.

To put it politely breakfast was… interesting. Leo briefly set his toast on fire, claiming it was too "bready," which resulted in Piper dumping his juice on it. That gained a few glances from the other Gryffindors. Annabeth practiced levitating various food items. Her first time around she hit Percy in the face with a peach. Annabeth quickly put away her wand.

After they'd all finished they walked down to Potions. It was in the dungeon which didn't made it seem fun. Their teacher stood at the front of the class. He was a tall, lanky man, wearing dark blue robes. He had dark hair but bright eyes. His face was neutral and a pair of glasses sat on his nose.

"Good morning students, I am your new potions teacher ," he said. "My name is Professor Malir. I have a short list of rules for this class and I expect you to follow them. Listen to my instructions, don't interrupt me, and don't ever drink a potion in here without me telling you to beforehand. Now please turn to page twenty-seven."

A chorus of pages turning filled the classroom. Annabeth scanned the page but couldn't read it well. The words kept changing. She really focused and read the first bit of instructions. They were making a sleeping potion.

Since Annabeth was sitting with Percy they were supposed to make the potion together. Annabeth read the instructions and cut the various ingredients. Percy mixed the potion and handled measuring the liquids. They finished the potion and it turned a deep purple.

Annabeth looked around and saw Jason and Frank's potion turn a neon yellow, Hazel and Piper's turn a pale violet, and Leo and some girls turn a sickly green. Malir peered into theirs and took it away.

He then came around to the others and eventually to Annabeth's. He deemed it perfect. Who knew they were good at potions?

After class ended less than half the class had successfully created a sleeping potion. But the teacher was undeterred. He remained neutral, but wrote some notes.

When they were dismissed they started walking to Defence Against the Dark Arts with the other Gryffindors. Percy reached out and grabbed Annabeth's hand as they walked through the corridors. Without the other students, Annabeth would've gotten lost. The school was like a maze, and not the fun kind. Although the castle was beautiful it also looked deadly. Pick the wrong room and you could be dead within minutes. Or at least, that's what Annabeth thought.

When they finally came upon the Defence Against the Dark Arts room, Professor Goldbane was standing at the front. It looked like a standard training room. Swords and shields were on the wall along with textbooks and spare quills.

The wizards on the other hand though it was weird.

A group of Slytherins walked in and were just as shocked. Annabeth picked up parts of conversations.

"Swords?"

"Are we going to use them?"

"I bet they're just decor."

"I hope we're not getting another Umbridge."

"Settle down class," said Professor Goldbane. "Now I know you are all curious about the swords. Let me assure you that you will not be using them. They are simply for decor, they are a relic from my days as a swordsman."

The class seemed relieved. Annabeth wasn't. Now she'd have to only use magic as defence against the other wizards.

"For now grab a textbook and turn to page 63 to review Boggarts," said Goldbane. The class followed his instructions. "I have a Boggart for you to challenge. The number one thing to remember is Riddikulus. Concentrate on how to make the Boggart less terrifying."

The class lined up behind a closet. A Slytherin girl went first. The doors were opened and out stepped a dark being. It had no features and was so dark it seemed to swallow the light around it.

"Riddikulus!" The girl cried.

The dark being turned into confetti and exploded. It escaped back to the closet and Goldbane closed the door. This continued for a few people. They battled various fears until Percy was up.

Out came from the closet a bloody Annabeth. A dagger was protecting from her chest. Her eyes were blurred over, just like in Tartarus.

"You left me," she whimpered. "You saved yourself instead of me."

She reached out to find Percy but stumbled around. She hit the ground and leaned over, blood dripped from her chest.

Annabeth looked over to Percy. Silent tears were dripping down his face. Many students looked back and forth between Annabeth and the Boggart. Percy raised his wand, his arm shaking.

"Ri-Ri-" Percy said. The Boggart started murmuring again. "Riddikulus!"

The Boggart turned into a blonde puppy with grey eyes. It ran back into the closet. Percy ran over to Annabeth and embraced her.

"I'd never leave you," he said, tears still falling down his face.

"I know," she said. They stood there for a while, it felt comforting to hold him.

The other students were shaken. No one else wanted to go.

"That'll be the end of the lesson today, you're dismissed early," said Goldbane.

The demigods hung back to stay with Percy and Annabeth. Goldbane came up to them.

"I had no idea that would happen," he said. "If I had you would have never had to face that."

Percy let go of Annabeth, his eyes red, his cheeks tear stained.

Annabeth looked at all the swords that lined the wall. They were glowing faintly. She walked up to them and saw they were Celestial Bronze. She ran her fingers over a sword.

Suddenly she stopped herself.

Wizards don't have Celestial Bronze.

So who was Goldbane?


	6. Chapter 6: The Kidnapping

**Annabeth**

Annabeth pulled herself away from the wall. She looked back to her friends, then to Goldbane. He met her eyes, then he glanced at the swords behind her.

"Do you like my collection?" He asked. "I've gotten them from all around the world."

"How did you get these ones?" Annabeth asked, gesturing to the Celestial Bronze behind her.

Goldbane looked thoughtful for a moment. "I took a summer trip to America.."

The other half-bloods listened in, they were watching Goldbane intently. They too noticed the Celestial Bronze.

"While there I came upon a strange place," continued Goldbane. "I was rather young at the time, I was only nineteen. Being the curious young man that I was I investigated. There were great swords men there. They trained me well. I've had the blades ever since."

Annabeth went back to the wall. She felt Goldbane's story was missing a detail. He was hiding something.

"We should leave for lunch, I'm starving," said Percy whose eyes were now just slightly red.

Annabeth grabbed his hand and they walked out the door. The rest of the group followed. Eventually when they were out of earshot Annabeth turned them down a few corridors and into an empty classroom.

"Goldbane's not telling us something," said Annabeth.

"You think he's a demigod?" Asked Piper.

"Can wizards also be demigods?" Questioned Leo. "I mean I get Hecate's kids, but can wizards fall in love with gods?"

"I'd say they can," said Frank. "They live very similar lives to us. And who says the gods can't leave America for a summer and relax in Europe?"

"How else could he have found Camp Half-Blood," stated Annabeth. "Because that's the only place in America where you can get training with Celestial Bronze weapons."

"Should we be watching him or something?" Asked Percy. "Or should we just up and confront him?"

"If we're wrong he'll know we're demigods, or at least that we know about them," said Annabeth. It was too risky. Maybe wizards could see through the Mist? Or maybe they could also be tricked by it.

Suddenly Annabeth heard footfalls come in their direction. She looked around the room and saw some windows out the back. She walked over to them and peered over the edge. They were on the second floor.

The footsteps got closer. The others crowded around her.

"I could fly some people down, so could Frank," said Jason.

Annabeth nodded and pried open the window. It was a steep drop down into the grounds. If they were caught out there they'd have explaining to do, but much less than being in an abandoned classroom at the end of an empty hall, before most classes had been let out.

Jason slipped out the window and hovered a few inches away from the edge. Piper climbed out and Jason grabbed a hold of her. He dropped and let her off on the grass. He flew back up and grabbed Leo.

Frank turned into an eagle and held Hazel in his talons. He flew out the window and dropped her safely on the ground. Jason came up again and grabbed Annabeth. She felt the winds all around her, then the ground beneath her feet.

Percy came down with Frank and landed beside Annabeth. Frank turned back into a human and Jason hit the ground. The group then started running back towards the main doors. Annabeth stole a glance back and saw a teacher looking out the window.

Percy threw the doors open and let the others through. He closed it again and they headed towards the Great Hall. Annabeth couldn't believe they were in the clear.

Annabeth led the seven through the halls, since she was the only one who knew where they were going, when they ran into Harry and his friends. They all glanced at Percy and then at Annabeth. She knew what was going on in their heads.

"So your worst fear is her dying," commented the ginger from that morning.

"Ron!" hissed Hermione. "You don't just say something like that! It's insensitive!"

"Sorry but it's true."

"Don't worry about it," said Percy. "It's not the most blatant comment someone's given me."

They all stood there for an awkward amount of time. Eventually Annabeth kept walking ahead and the others followed her. They entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table. A few minutes later Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny sat down near the demigods.

"Have you guys seen Neville?" Asked Hermione.

"Who's that?" Asked Leo, mouth half full of lunch.

"He's a Gryffindor from our year," said Harry. "We haven't seen him since Potions."

Annabeth immediately thought that it was a monster attack. But then she remembered monsters don't attack people here every other day.

"There have been kidnappings here, right?" Asked Jason. Annabeth thought back to what Chiron had told them, he'd mentioned kidnappings.

"If Neville did get kidnapped this would be the fourth," said Ginny. "A first year from Hufflepuff, a third from Ravenclaw, and a fourth from Slytherin. So far there has been no trend. Not house, year, ability. They weren't all in a certain area, or disappear at a certain time of day."

"Odd.." Mumbled Annabeth. She didn't like when things didn't make sense. She was a daughter of Athena, she could always figure out problems.

"Does this normally happen here?" Asked Hazel. "Kidnappings I mean."

"No," said Hermione. "Students almost never disappear."

Soon Annabeth had finished eating and read over her schedule, next she had Transfiguration followed by History of Magic. She was glad that most of their classes were free of magic.

Eventually the Gryffindors left for Transfiguration. When they walked through the doors Annabeth recognized McGonagall immediately. She liked her the moment she saw her. She was a no nonsense leader type, she could get even the silliest of students to pay attention.

Annabeth and the other demigods scrambled to the back of the class. They took out their wands and placed them on their desks. Annabeth could hear Percy muttering under his breath.

"Kidnappings, couldn't have been a normal year. There had to be kidnappings."

A clear, commanding voice sounded from the front of the room, McGonagall was quieting the class.

"Good afternoon class and welcome to Transfiguration. I will have no fooling around in my class. I will not hesitate to remove anyone. Transfiguration is a dangerous magic and I will not tolerate misuse of it."

"Now," she said. "As a warm up exercise please turn the stones on your desks into ink pots."

The rest of the class preformed this no problem. But the demigods had no idea what they were doing. Annabeth turned back to Hazel and gave her a knowing look. Suddenly all the stones turned to ink pots via Mist-Bending.

McGonagall strolled through the desks inspecting the ink pots. Eventually she stopped in front of Annabeth and picked hers up. She inspected it then placed it back down. She kept going through the class finding no errors.

The class finished with no problems, Hazel was a little tired but they were inconspicuous. History of Magic was rather entertaining for Annabeth, once she got past the ghost professor.

After dinner in the Great Hall, Annabeth was sitting with Hazel and Piper in the common room. The boys were at a table comparing notes, Leo was copying down all of Frank's since he had none. One thing was for sure, they were all confused.

It was getting late and the room was emptying. Soon they were the only ones left. Hazel was starting to doze off in a chair, and Leo was acting strangely calm. Lack of sleep was getting to him.

The half-bloods somehow made it to their rooms and into their correct beds. Annabeth shut her eyes and fell into an instant sleep.


	7. Chapter 7: The Dungeon

**Harry**

Harry woke suddenly. He looked around into the inky blackness. His eyes slowly adjusted to the shapes of four students digging through trunks and whispering to each other. They were the exchange students.

Harry tried not to move or draw attention to himself. He, truth be told, was afraid of them. They gave him weird vibes, like they knew things that no one should. They always stole glances behind them, afraid of what could be following.

Eventually the four left. Harry crawled out of his bed and put his glasses on. He grabbed his wand and slipped the invisibility cloak over himself. He crept down the stairs and saw all the exchange students conversing in front of the fire.

"Follow me," said Annabeth. "I know the route, don't get lost, and don't get caught."

The others nodded. They followed Annabeth out of the common room, Harry trailed them cautiously. He tried to see what they had in their hands. It looked like they were holding sticks of some sort, but they kept shifting and changing, like they couldn't decide what they were.

The students descended into the dungeon. Harry was tempted to leave now and let them do whatever they were doing without him, but curiously won and he continued. They walked into a long corridor and Annabeth reached around on the wall. Her hand grasped a small metal ring.

She pulled it and the wall swung open like a door. A long staircase descended even deeper into the earth. Annabeth entered first, lighting her wand. Distorted shadows were cast onto the walls and she climbed down the stone steps.

Everyone closely followed, Jason brought up the rear with another glowing wand. Harry threaded lightly on the ancient stairs. They dove deeper and deeper under the school until Harry began to tire.

Suddenly a corridor opened up in front of them. Annabeth and Jason shone their lights over the space. It was grand and creepy.

The entire room was made of dark stones, thirteen altars were placed around the room. In the centre was a pit that had a dwindling flame burning in it. Harry wondered how long it had been going.

As the exchange students came closer to the fire it expanded and rose several feet in the air. It morphed many colours, from a blood red, to a stark white. It then settled into a pleasant fire that cast light throughout the room.

Harry wandered around the room inspecting the altars. The first one he came upon was dark and deathly. It was black and had a small green fire burning in its centre. A metal three headed dog, kind of like Fluffy, guarded the altar from behind. Harry moved on quickly.

The one that really caught his eye was a golden altar was a sun on it. A lyre and a bow were side by side, and a chariot was poised above them. Harry pulled himself away and stood by the fire.

Suddenly darkness amplified near him. Then a pale boy was standing beside him. Harry jumped about five feet. The dark boy had hair falling in his scowling face. Harry wanted to fire every spell he knew at this demon boy.

Hazel ran over and hugged the dark stranger. He smiled a little. Harry had always thought of Hazel as sweet, but now his views were shifting. Apparating didn't work at Hogwarts, whatever dark magic this boy was weaving, was nothing new to the exchange students.

"Do you feel okay?" Hazel asked scanning the boy.

"I'm okay," he said. "I stayed at a hotel not far from here, I only had to travel a short distance."

The others gathered around them and they shared some news. The students told some things about school, Harry started to zone out when he heard his name.

"Harry's friend's been kidnapped," said Piper. "Do you know anything about it?"

"No," said the dark boy. "I haven't run into any trouble. I'll tell you if I see anything. Have you guys had any trouble?"

"Yeah," sighed Percy. "Train ride was the worst. We sat with this creepy girl and she attacked us. But Annabeth thought quickly and I was able to send her away."

Percy leaned over and placed a kiss on his girlfriend's head. Harry scrambled back. They got rid of a girl?!

"So how long will you be staying, Nico?" Asked Hazel.

"Not long," Nico replied. "I've got to get back before Saturday and report. Chiron wanted to IM, but I wanted to check up on you guys."

"You have feelings?!" Asked Leo. A few people laughed.

"I was more worried about my sister." Hazel gave him a quick hug.

"We should go back to the dorm, make sure no one's getting suspicious," said Piper.

Harry climbed the stairs and quietly as he could. Once he reached the corridor he ran full out. He was not getting caught. The exchange students were scary, really scary. They knew a freaky demon boy, Hazel was his sister. They had a creepy room in the dungeon, and they got rid of a student!

Once Harry reached the dorm he couldn't see the exchange students trailing him. He entered the common room and saw them all standing there saying good nights to each other. Demon boy was with them, looking tired.

Harry sneaked past them and climbed into bed. He placed his cloak in his trunk and dropped his glasses and wand on his nightstand. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. It was a fitful night with dark thoughts and nightmares.

Sunlight streamed into the dorm room as a golden morning dawned. Harry rolled out of bed and slipped his glasses on his face. The room came into focus and he walked to his trunk. He grabbed his uniform and was dressed before anyone else was awake.

Harry stumbled down the stairs into the common room, several students were lounging and chatting with each other. Harry spotted Annabeth studying by the fire. He sat in a chair at the back of the room and watched her closely.

After fifteen minutes Jason joined her. They practiced some charms, making items levitate and move around them. Harry noticed that the exchange students weren't skilled at magic, they only did simple spells. Although Percy and Annabeth did do well in potions, he couldn't count them out completely.

"What are you doing?"

Harry jumped and saw Ron beside him.

"Don't sneak up on me!" Scolded Harry.

"I didn't," said Ron. "Are you watching the exchange students?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you about it when Ginny and Hermione wake up."

After a few minutes the girls joined them and they walked towards the Great Hall. Harry changed their route and lead them towards the dungeons. He stopped in front of the wall where the hidden door was.

"You want to tell us why we're here," said Ginny.

"I followed the exchange students last night," explained Harry. "They came down here and Annabeth opened a secret passage. Down there was a huge room with altars and a crazy fire pit. Then, some demon boy appeared out of nowhere, it wasn't apparition, that doesn't work in the castle. I think they're up to something."

"Well then, where's this passage?" asked Hermione.

Harry reached around until he found the ring. He pulled on it and nothing happened. He yanked on it again but to no avail. He gestured for the others to try it. No one else was able to get the door open.

"It was probably just a dream," said Hermione. "I for one like the exchange students."

"What if I find evidence," said Harry. "Then would you believe me?"

"If you can find solid evidence the exchange students are evil, I will believe you."

Harry considered it a challenge. Every move they made would be under the watchful eyes of Harry Potter. He followed the others out of the dungeons up to breakfast. The exchange students sat near them, Harry glared at them, only Frank seemed to notice. He looked away quickly, tapping Hazel. She looked up and Harry looked away.

Harry still couldn't believe her brother was the dark demon boy. She was so bright and energetic, so called Nico, was dark and radiated death. Harry finished his toast quickly and left the Great Hall.

The Gryffindors had divination with the Ravenclaws. Trelawney was sitting in the strong scented room glaring into a crystal ball. The exchange students sat in the back, whispering furiously. Harry sat as close as he could to them.

"Do you think she's like Rachel?" Asked Percy.

"She can't be," said Annabeth. "Rachel is unique."

Trelawney began speaking. "I sense death in the room."

"Death is strong here," she repeated. "One of you brings endless death!"

Harry couldn't help but think it was one of the exchange students, Trelawney had never predicted accurately though. Maybe she was just giving her annual death sentence, Harry had been the subject of them before.

"You!" She pointed at Hazel. "Death welcomes you like a friend. You bring death to those you love!"

An uneasy silence came upon the room. Trelawney shook her head and smiled pleasantly, like she had never said anything.

"Now we will be using crystal balls…" Trelawney drawled on, Harry lost focus.

Hazel was a friend of death, the demon boy was her brother. Maybe she was an embodiment of death? Either way, Hazel carried death with her. All Harry had to do was make her slip up, or any of them for that matter. Their disguise was wearing thin.


	8. Chapter 8: The Omega

**Percy**

Percy had seen the sideways glances Harry kept giving them. Then after Trawney had yelled about death, everyone kept looking at them, Hazel specifically. Percy wondered if Trelawney knew Hazel was Pluto's child, or maybe she knew Hazel was on her second life. Either way, she didn't acknowledge it afterwards.

Maybe she wasn't so different from Rachel.

Class ended and Percy hadn't learned a thing, but divination was a thing for Oracles not half-bloods. Percy stood and walked out of the room. The Gryffindors had a spare so most of them marched up to the common room to catch up on homework. Since all the demigods had already finished theirs (courtesy of Annabeth) they wandered around the school.

"Do you think Trelawney knows about Hazel?" Asked Frank nervously.

"Possibly," replied Annabeth. "Although she didn't mention Pluto or the underworld so I think we're safe."

"Either way everyone is looking at me now," said Hazel. "I don't want to blow this for us."

"You won't," reassured Percy. "Although we do need more information in case we do get found out, we want a good report for Chiron. We should investigate the forest surrounding the school while we have time. I'm guessing that there's something hidden in there."

"Good plan," said Annabeth. "I guess you're brain isn't all seaweed. We'll split into two groups. Me, Percy, and Piper, then Leo, Frank, Jason, and Hazel."

The groups split and went in opposite directions out of the school. Luckily no one was in any of the halls they took, so they were able to get to the edge of the forest quickly. Percy drew Riptide and Piper and Annabeth pulled daggers from beneath their robes.

Annabeth took the lead with Percy in back, they trudged through the undergrowth keeping an eye out for any danger. Annabeth stopped so suddenly that Percy smashed into Piper.

"A warning would be nice next time," Percy growled. "What is it?"

"It's an omega," Annabeth reported. "Carved into this rock."

"So what's the big deal?"

Annabeth turned and held up a wand that was snapped in half. "This was beside it."

"So do we keep going?" Asked Piper. "Is this a bad omen or what?"

"It's bad but we need to keep going," replied Annabeth. "This is the first sign of something interesting we can't leave. My guess is this has something to do with the kidnappings."

"Of course it does," said Percy sarcastically.

Annabeth pocketed the wand and took one last took at the omega. The trio moved forward watching for anything suspicious, no more symbols or anything out of the ordinary.

"You three are awful far from home aren't you," hissed a female voice. "You have no business meddling in the affairs here. Leave now and I shall spare your pathetic lives."

"Show yourself," Piper shouted, her words filled with Charmspeak. A rustling came from behind and the trio whipped around. Blocking their path back was an empousa, her flaming hair flickered and her fangs were bared.

Percy charged the empousa but his sword was matching with a black, curved blade. Piper took this opportunity to lung at the beast's torso. The empousa dodged the attack but Annabeth was already at the other side, her dagger buried itself in the empousa's arm. The empousa dropped her sword and Percy slashed down Riptide, the empousa exploded in a shower of golden dust.

"Let's get out of here," said Piper. "I'd rather not be late to class."

"Good idea, let's hope the others had better luck than us," replied Annabeth.

The trio raced out of the forest and over to the lake. Percy raised a wave of water and washed the dust off their uniforms. Unfortunately, the girls were now soaked. They turned and saw four people coming towards them.

"Why are you wet?" Asked Leo.

"We had to wash off empousa dust, we got attacked in the forest," said Annabeth. "We also found an omega carved into a rock and a snapped wand beside it."

Annabeth pulled the wand from her pocket. Everyone took a look at it while Jason recapped their mission. They found nothing out of the ordinary except an annoying squirrel. The half-bloods walked back to the Gryffindor common room. Annabeth and Piper went to get drier clothes, while everyone else chatted about their next classes. Thankfully most of the Gryffindors were already on their way to the next class so the room was relatively empty.

The pair returned wearing dry clothes, but their hair was still wet. The demigods descended the staircase to the potions room, Malir was waiting patiently for class to start. Percy sat next to Annabeth who was currently preparing their workstation.

"For today's lesson we will be brewing truth serums," said Malir. "Please turn to page one hundred and six and follow the instructions carefully. You may begin."

Percy stared at the page but no words were discernible. Annabeth told him the instructions and he got the ingredients. The potion turned clear as they finished the last step. Percy glanced around at the other groups. Only one other group had a clear liquid, Ron and Hermione.

Percy couldn't help but notice Harry filling a small vial of their potion and hastily shoving it in his pocket. Malir came around and inspected the potions and was very pleased with Percy and Annabeth's serum.

"What do you call this?" Asked Malir, pointing to Harry and Leo's potion.

"Truth serum?" Guessed Leo.

"This," Malir said. "Is a terrible, burnt abomination of a potion, I suggest you read the instructions next time."

Malir walked away and inspected a few more potions before dismissing the class. Percy had just left the door when Annabeth grabbed his wrist and pulled him away. She gestured for the others to join them as she lead them down a back corridor.

"Where are we going?" Asked Jason.

"I just need to warn you," Annabeth said. "I saw Harry take some truth serum, don't take any drinks he offers you, I think he's watching us."

"Guys, look," Piper said Pointing down the hall where Harry was standing. Harry looked away and started walking in the other direction.

"We need to keep an eye on him," said Hazel. "If he's suspicious of anything about us, he could get in way over his head. We can't have him following us and getting attacked or kidnapped. You need a lot of magic to do damage to a mythological being."

"Starting now we always watch our backs and don't discuss anything about the quest unless we're sure we're alone, got it?" Commanded Annabeth.

The group disbanded and walked back up to the Gryffindor common room. Percy sat on a chair near Harry and listened in on his conversation with Ron. He couldn't help but notice all the looks Harry kept giving him. Percy hoped they were just casual glancing, not knowing looks.


	9. Chapter 9: The Chocolate Cauldrons

**Harry**

Harry felt uneasy sitting so close to Percy. He wanted to talk to Ron in private, but Percy was within hearing distance. Harry could drag Ron to the dorm, but the other exchange students were already there. He could only hope that Percy would leave soon.

"I can't do this anymore," sighed Ron. "I've officially done as much homework as my brain can handle. Good night."

Ron gathered his quills and parchment and disappeared up the stairs. Only Harry, Percy, and two fourth years remained in the common room. Harry considered going to bed and just talking to Ron the next day, but then the two fourth years left and he was alone with Percy. He could implement his plan now, and just tell Ron the results tomorrow at breakfast.

Harry walked up to the boys dorm and rummaged through his trunk. He pulled out a package of Chocolate Cauldrons from underneath a pile of robes. He carefully opened the box, glancing ever so often at the door hoping Percy would remain in the common room.

Harry pulled out the first chocolate and set it aside. He lined all the small candies in a row and reached into the pocket of his robe. His hand grasped a cool vial and removed the stopper. He poured a small amount of the colourless liquid into each of the cauldrons.

Harry placed the chocolates back into the box then closed the lid carefully and sealed it. No one could tell it was tampered with. Harry took the box and walked to Percy's trunk. The latch was unlocked so Harry placed the chocolates under a robe with a small scrap of paper.

Harry, seeming satisfied, got ready for bed and collapsed onto his bed. He pulled his cover up and had just removed his glasses when Percy entered the room. Harry lied still and tried to act like he was sleeping. Every breath seemed too loud, he felt so exposed. Now would be a great time to use his invisibility cloak, but it was tucked away, he would just make a scene trying to get it.

Percy took off his robe and changed into a hoodie and a pair of shorts and flopped onto his bed. He dropped his wand on his nightstand and pulled the covers around himself. He lied still and his breathes became steady.

Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding in. He tried to sleep but fear and excitement kept filling his thoughts. Sleep, he commanded himself, worry about this in the morning.

Harry drifted into a light sleep, waking every few hours, until the early light of dawn streamed into the room. Harry put on his glasses and searched for some robes to wear. Jason rolled out of bed and quickly got dressed. Frank was up soon afterwards.

Within fifteen minutes the majority of the dorm was up. Harry pulled out a book and tried to look casual while lying on his bed. Jason and Frank left the room followed by some others soon after. Eventually Percy stirred.

He grabbed some clothes and sleepily got dressed. He didn't bother combing or even touching his hair, and stuffed his wand in his pocket. He opened his trunk, grabbed a few items then left the room.

Harry kicked himself for not putting the chocolates on top. Now he'd have to get them to Percy another way. Maybe he could just give them to someone else? No, it was too late, his plan was already in motion. He would just have to give it to Percy another way.

Harry opened Percy's trunk and pulled out the chocolates. "I know you think he's evil, but stealing a man's chocolate is crossing the line."

Harry turned around to see a sleepy Ron behind him.

"These are mine," explained Harry. "I gave them to Percy but he didn't take them."

"What did you do to them?" Inquired Ron.

"Spiked them with truth serum," said Harry. "I'll get some answers from him. Or any of them for that matter."

"You're going mad Harry," said Ron. "I say they're perfectly normal."

Harry scowled and dumped the chocolates into his trunk. Harry left the dorm and began thinking of other ways to get the exchange students to reveal their dirty little secret.

Harry sat on a couch next to Ginny and Hermione, they were both reading. Harry relaxed until Ron appeared at the bottom of the stairs. The group then left to the Great Hall to get some breakfast. Harry's stomach growled just at the thought.

 **Leo**

Leo sat bolt right up in bed after Harry left the room. He threw on a uniform, luckily it was all his, and grabbed his wand. Ron left the room and Leo waited a beat. Leo noticed that his hand was on fire and quickly put it out.

Leo walked down the stairs resisting the urge to run. Harry was on to them and he was trying to use truth serum on them! Leo watched Harry and his friends exit the common room and rushed over to the half-bloods.

"Leo you look like you've seen a ghost," said Piper. "Although I guess there are a couple ghosts here so it wouldn't be that weird."

"Percy did you find any chocolates this morning?" Asked Leo.

"No," replied Percy. "I know you like candy but you shouldn't have any before breakfast."

"Not for that!" Said Leo. "Harry tired to give you chocolates with truth serum in them!"

Everyone shared uneasy glances.

"How did you find out about this?" Asked Annabeth.

"I heard him say it to Ron," explained Leo. "They thought I was still asleep. Harry wants answers, from any of us."

"Do you think we should skip classes?" Asked Percy. "Get away for the day, make sure we don't get ambushed."

"But that might make him even more suspicious," said Annabeth.

"We need to get him off our trail," said Percy. "Any ideas?"

"We could get Piper to Charmspeak him into believing we're normal," suggested Leo.

"Possibly," said Annabeth. "Let's call that plan B. I suggest we should behave like normal students from here on out, or until he's less suspicious. No powers, no showing off in class, no investigating into the kidnappings. Nothing."

"Okay," said Jason. "Everyone agree?"

Everyone murmured in agreement.

"Can we eat now?" Asked Percy. "I'm starving."

The group left the common room and headed towards the Great Hall. Leo really hoped that Harry would drop his investigation into the half-bloods. If he dug nay deeper he could get roped into this mess, he could get dragged into a possible war. They seemed always get themselves into one.

"What if Harry finds out?" Asked Leo.

"Then we wipe his memory, threaten him to keep his mouth shut, or keep him locked up until we can contact Chiron," replied Annabeth. "We have no room for error, especially after a recent kidnapping."

Leo nodded and focused on his steps. He didn't mind Harry, he really didn't want him to get into so much trouble. He could only hope Harry would stop, and keep himself far away from the half-bloods and the gods.


	10. Chapter 10: Suspicions Arising

**Okay quick message.**

 **I really want to say thank you for all your support as this is my first fanfic. I'm really thankful for my readers, you guys make my day better! So thank you, thank you, thank you! You have no idea how much you guys mean to me.**

 **I'll also try to update more often! (Sorry about that)**

 **Now without further adieu, Chapter 10!**

 **Ron**

Ron plopped down beside Harry and began grabbing food at random. Harry was staring at the exchange students down the table. Ron jabbed Harry in the ribs.

Harry whipped around to face him. "Ouch."

"Stop doing that, you're making me worried," said Ron, stuffing some toast in his mouth. "They're normal, or as normal as wizards can be. They're not evil, and they're not out to get you."

"It's not that I'm worried about," scowled Harry. "I think they have something to do with the kidnappings."

"You are officially crazy," stated Ron.

"I still can't believe you put truth serum in chocolates," said Hermione. "You know, your starting to seem like the evil one. Spying on them, making ridiculous accusations."

Harry stood and stomped out of the dining hall. Ron went back to his food, slightly glad Harry was gone. He was his friend, but he was losing it.

"Do you think we should tell the exchange students that Harry's hunting them down?" Asked Ginny.

"No," replied Hermione. "We don't want to scare them."

Ron finished up his food and gathered his things. He waved goodbye to the girls and marched off to DADA. When he walked through the door, Harry was already sitting there flipping through books.

"What are you doing?" Asked Ron.

Harry ignored him and kept scanning the pages.

"Earth to Harry," Ron said.

"I'm just looking up the place I found in the dungeons where the exchange students went," Harry said turning the page. "It's not in here!"

Harry slammed the book shut gaining a stare from Goldbane.

"This is all the rooms in the entire school, and it's not in here!" Said Harry. "There's something wrong with them, I'll prove it."

Ron ripped the book away from Harry and threw it away, getting a second stare from Goldbane.

"I'm sorry I've been acting a little crazy lately," said Harry. "I just know something's wrong. Please believe me."

"I'll believe you if you can prove they're evil," said Ron. "But you don't have to spend every waking minute trying to find evidence. Relax once and while."

"Sure."

Slowly the room filled and Goldbane calmed the talkative class.

"Today we will duel," said Goldbane enthusiastically. "Knowing how to fend off an enemy is a large part of Defence Against the Dark Arts. Now pair up and prepare for battle!"

Ron looked over at Harry, he nodded in silent agreement to be partners. They walked over to the centre of the room where the first pair was getting ready to duel. It was Ginny and Hermione.

After a few moments Hermione was declared winner and the next pair came up. After three more Ron and Harry were in position.

"Three...Two...One...Begin!" Commanded Goldbane.

"Expelliarmus!" Cried Harry. Ron's wand flew from his hand. "Stupefy!"

"We have out winner, Harry!" Said Goldbane. "Next up, Percy and Annabeth."

They took their positions and held their wands out. As soon as Goldbane told them to start Percy took a few steps forward, before quickly reversing. Like he was going to charge at Annabeth, then decided against it.

"Stupefy!" Shouted Annabeth. The spell hit Percy in the chest but he remained mobile.

"Stupefy!" He shouted back. The spell froze Annabeth for a second before she was free.

"Expelliarmus!" She screamed. Percy's wand dropped from his hand. "Stupefy!"

Percy stopped for a moment before grabbing his wand from his feet.

"Expelliarmus!" Percy yelled. Annabeth's wand flew a few feet, but still within range for her to grab it. "Stupefy!"

Annabeth froze for a second then dropped down to grab her wand. She was preparing to cast another spell when Goldbane cut her off.

"That is all for now, next pair!"

Percy and Annabeth left the area and started talking quickly to each other in hushed tones. Harry came up close to Ron.

"Did you see that!" He whispered. "The spells don't work on them!"

"Or they both are terrible spell casters."

"I don't think so, I think they're naturally immune!"

After a few more duels, Piper and Jason were up. The same phenomena happened, the spells didn't affect them as much as they should have. A few other students seemed to be noticing, Harry smirked like his master plan was working. Even though the piece of Voldemort had been removed, he seemed darker, more evil.

Goldbane dismissed the class and all the exchange students hurried away. Harry followed them closely, Ron caught up to Harry and pulled his arm, spinning him around.

"Harry," Ron scolded.

"Just let me follow them, I won't do anything illegal."

Harry exposed his invisibility cloak from under his robe and threw it over himself. He vanished and Ron turned back around to find Hermione and Ginny. He'd had enough of trying to stop Harry's antics. If Harry was right he'd be in trouble, and if he was wrong he'd be in trouble. Ron was done with trouble, he'd had enough of it in his lifetime.

Ron found Hermione and his sister and walked with them to charms. He followed the charms lesson carefully and ignored Harry, who was sitting on the other side of the room watching the exchange students.

During lunch,Ron wasn't bothered by the constant staring of his friend. He went through the whole day peacefully. That was until, a very worried Flitwick ran into the Great Hall during dinner.

He ran up to McGonagall and quickly conversed with her. McGonagall turned to face the room, which had gone dead silent. She cleared her throat and spoke.

"Has anyone here seen Ava, fifth year of Ravenclaw?" She asked, no one spoke up. "She has been fm issuing for half the day now. We must not jump to conclusions, but for the time being the most likely occurrence is that she was kidnapped along with the growing list from other houses."

The room was filled with chattering, Harry glared at the exchange students who were whispering to each other. McGonagall quieted the room.

"After some deliberation with the other professors, we have decided to install a curfew. Everyone must be in their dorms before ten pm each night, and may not leave until six the next morning. This is for your own safety, so please follow these rules. You will not be let in if you are late."

The noise of the room picked up again. The exchange students got up and left the room talking in hushed tones. Ron heard bits and pieces of their conversation, "kidnapping," "forest," "tonight," and "attack."

Ron's blood ran cold. Were they connected to the kidnapping? Harry looked over at Ron, his eyes gleamed with knowing. Harry leaned over and whispered in Ron's ear.

"We'll follow them, see what they know. Are you in, now that you know I'm on to something?"

Ron looked back at his friend, as if his eyes had been cleared. What if they were involved with the kidnappings, whether they were evil or not, they knew something. Should that knowledge be kept hidden?

Ron looked into the emerald eyes of his friend and nodded. He needed to know what they were doing, and what they knew.


	11. Chapter 11: Mind Control

**Percy**

Percy waited until the room went silent and everyone's breathing levelled out. It was dark out, it would've been nice to leave with light, but with the curfew in place, it was useless. They had no choice but to sneak out.

Percy double checked to room for signs of waking wizards, but everyone was still. Percy sat up and waved over the other half-bloods, they crept over to the window together and carefully opened it. Jason jumped out and hovered in place. Frank jumped out, and flew up as a huge bald eagle.

Leo pulled off the backpack he was wearing and tossed it out. It expanded into a large rectangle with ropes at the ends. Jason and Frank grabbed them and held up the invention.

Leo walked onto the flying machine and pulled a control panel from the floor. After a few taps, four propellers spang out from the base. They started spinning and helped hold up the invention.

Percy joined Leo and they began moving towards the girls dorm. Percy knew Leo was impressive, but this was still incredible, he had built this in just a few hours. Leo was tapping buttons and toggling a joystick, it was so oddly complex only he would ever know what anything did.

They came upon the girls down window and waited for the signal. After a few moments they saw a bright flash. Jason tapped the window and the girls threw it open. They were equipped for battle and ready to leave. Jason helped them up onto the machine and gave Leo the okay when they were seated comfortably.

"This is pretty impressive Leo," said Annabeth.

"You forget that you're talking to the one and only constructor of the Argo II," replied Leo. "This is safe and efficient as you can make in an afternoon."

"I suddenly fear for my life," said Piper.

"Okay guys, get ready to jump!" Said Jason. "We can't set it down with the propellers running, and we definitely can't keep you from crashing if we turn them off. Leo, get us as close as possible to the ground."

Leo fiddled with a few buttons and switches before holding it steady. Percy, Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper all waited on the edges, the drop was only about six feet. Barely a puddle jump compared to some of the crazy stunts they'd pulled.

"Jump!" Said Leo.

Percy jumped off the edge and landed on the ground. He took a few steps forward and turned to check on the others. Annabeth looked like she hadn't even jumped, Hazel had tripped but was otherwise okay, and Piper was giving the okay to Leo.

Leo put in the propellers and Frank and Jason sat it down. Leo touched a button and the craft folded into a backpack. Jason landed and Frank turned back into a human. Percy scanned the area for teachers or monsters.

"Annabeth, you lead the way to the omega marking, we'll work from there," commanded Jason.

Annabeth dove deep into the forest, the others followed. Percy took up the rear, using Riptide as a source of light. He personally thought the light charm was useless and hadn't bothered to perfect it. That's what flashlights were for!

After ten or so minutes they found the omega. It was clear as day, carved into the stone. Annabeth turned to address the group.

"Where to next?" She asked. "Anyone see anything else suspicious?"

"Look," Piper said, pointing to the ridge of a small hill. A dark figure scurried away and hid behind some trees.

Percy took off running. That figure had to know something, or they wouldn't be hiding. Annabeth caught up and drew her dagger. The other half-bloods took up positions on the other sides. Percy crested the hill and saw the figure a few paces away. He jumped and tackled the suspect.

It was a dark haired girl. She looked into Percy's eyes and he climbed off of her. Her eyes were cold, and hazy, like she was in a dream. She sat up and punched Percy in the gut. Percy wheeled back and swung Riptide.

The blade passed through her. She was a mortal, that was a good thing, but there was something wrong with her. Percy walked over to Annabeth.

"What do you think is up with her?"

"I think there is some sort of influence over her, but it isn't very strong," said Annabeth.

"Guys," said Hazel, calling the attention of the others. "Look at her clothes, it's a Hogwarts uniform. What's the blue and bronze house?"

"Ravenclaw," said Piper. "I think this is Ava."

Piper walked up to her and searched her pockets. She pulled out a snapped wand from one and a medal coin from the other. Piper walked over to the group and held out the coin. On one side an omega was printed clearly, on the other the words "monsters rise and the gods fall" were written in Ancient Greek.

"So the monster have to do with the kidnappings," said Hazel.

"Yeah," said Annabeth. "But what would they want with underage wizards?"

"We want to be feared again," said Ava, her voice was cold and sharp. "We don't want to be treated like pawns anymore!"

Ava rushed the group and ripped the coin from Piper's hand. She tossed it in the air and it transformed into a sword.

"Like the idea?" Ava said. "We got it from you Jason."

Ava swung at him but Jason easily blocked her. Piper body-checked Ava and flattened her to the ground, the sword fell from her grasp. Leo picked it up and examined it.

He tossed it and it turned back into a coin. Piper repositioned Ava so that she was sitting on her knees, Piper held her arms behind her back. Percy walked over to her and looked at her face. It was placid and calm, almost drowsy.

"You cannot fight us," she said. "Your gods are far away, too far to help you."

Ava started laughing. A maniacal laughter that wasn't her own, nothing she said was her own, the mind control was getting stronger. Percy checked her over for signs of how she was being controlled, but found nothing.

"We need to do something with her," said Percy. "We could take her to the dungeons and try to find a cure for her."

"Either way we need to get her out of the forest," said Hazel. "We can't leave her like this to be manipulated and controlled."

"Let's get her to the dungeons and work from there," said Annabeth. "We also need to get a hold of Nico ASAP and tell him about this, we could use him as backup now that we know what the monsters are up to. We should IM Chiron as soon as we're in the clear."

Percy picked up Ava, she was light and didn't try to resist. Her eyes looked duller than before, Percy felt her wrist for a pulse, thankfully there was one. So why was she not fighting this?

"Monsters," Ava whispered. Her voice was soft, her eyes clearer. "Fighting...Them."

"Keep fighting them, your safe with us," Percy said. "Hey guys, Ava coming back a bit."

The others came closer and waited for Ava to keep speaking. She opened her mouth but no words came out. She tried to speak again, but failed. Piper came close to her.

"Keep trying, you can speak," she said, her Charmspeak radiated from her voice.

"They're making an army," Ava said, her voice stronger than before. "The monsters are coming back!" Ava held her hands over her ears and whispered to herself. She shut her eyes and started shaking.

"Ava, you can fight them!" Percy said. "You just were, I believe in you!"

"You cannot fight us!" Said Ava, her eyes were open and she wasn't shaking. Her face was calm and emotionless. "You cannot fight all of us, half-bloods!"

Ava started thrashing in Percy's arms. He held her tight and looked towards the others. "We need to get back quickly!"

The demigods broke out into a run in the forest. When they came towards the edge of the forest Frank transformed into a bald eagle. Leo tossed the flying machine and ushered everyone on. Jason and Frank flew into the air with great struggle while Leo got the propellers running. Once they started, Frank and Jason took off.

"Where are we going?" Asked Jason.

"We need to get to the dungeons," said Annabeth. "I found a passageway along the west side of the school. Get close to it, I'll guide you."

Annabeth began shouting instructions and they started towards the school. Percy held Ava tightly, his arms were starting to tire, but Ava was starting to calm down. He kept saying soothing and encouraging things to her, she still had some self control.

"Okay guys, get ready to jump!" Said Annabeth.

Percy stood at the edge of the flying machine and waited for the que to jump, they had to all jump at once or the craft would tip. Leo gave the go ahead and Percy jumped, but forgot to account for the weight of Ava.

He came crashing down and landed on his side. He tried to get himself up, but it was hard while holding a person. Eventually he got up and walked a few paces away. Leo had the flying machine packed up in a moment and Annabeth and the passageway opened.

Percy entered, following Annabeth's lead. She took a few turns then stopped in front of a wall. She reached down and pulled a ring. Pantheon Hall opened up and the half-bloods hurried inside. The fire roared to life, illuminating the shrines. Jason closed the door behind them and Percy set Ava down.

Ava stayed still, her eyes were still murky, but they were improving. The half-bloods took a breather and sat down. Ava shot out her arm to try and hit Hazel, but her arm slammed down mid hit.

"I am in control," she told herself. "I am in control."

Ava kept twiddling her fingers, her eyes slowly getting clearer.

"What is this place?" She asked. "It's making my thoughts and actions easier to control."

"It's nowhere special," said Annabeth. "But I think you'll have to stay here for a while, or at least until we can find a way to cure you."

Ava nodded. "I don't want to lose myself again."

"Guys," whispered Annabeth. "I don't think we're alone."

Everyone glanced around the room looking for the disturbance. Percy caught a movement out of the corner of his eye.

"Show yourself!" Shouted Piper, her voice coated in Charmspeak.

Two figures emerged from a corner. All the half-bloods stood and readied their weapons. Ava backed away from the demigods, whispering to herself. Percy waited for the attack, and hoped to the gods the figures didn't have backup.


	12. Chapter 12: Watchful Eyes

**Harry**

The exchange students began moving around the dorm. Harry tried to watch them without drawing attention to himself. Jason jumped out the open window and hovered there waiting. Wait, hover! Was Harry seeing this right? His glasses were off, but still.

Frank jumped out next, but sank like a rock. An eagle flew up and waited beside Jason. Leo tossed his bag out the window and it expanded into a large machine. After a few moments it was armed with propellers and Percy jumped on. They shut the window and Harry crept from his bed. He pocketed his wand and put on his glasses.

Ron pushed away his sheets and came over to him. Harry grabbed his Firebolt and invisibility cloak from under his bed. Harry ran over to the window and threw it open. He hopped on his broom, Ron jumped on behind him. Harry tossed the cloak over the two of them and flew out the window.

Harry scanned the sky for the exchange students' flying machine. He spotted it hovering outside the girls dorm window, the last passenger climbed on and they took off. Harry followed at a distance, even though he was wearing the invisibility cloak he didn't want to take any chances, one of them was flying for crying out loud!

Four of the exchange students jumped off the craft near the forest. The propellers of the flying machine folded up and Leo got off. Jason landed and the eagle turned into Frank. He was an animagi, probably an illegal one at that. How many secrets did they have.

The flying machine folded up into a backpack and the group took off into the woods. Harry flew over the canopy of trees and tried to keep track of them, they knew where they were going, they'd been here before.

The group stopped momentarily before breaking out into a run. Harry couldn't see well through the trees, but it looked like they were holding sticks, morphing sticks. Harry tried to maneuver through the trees to get a better view.

"Can you see them?" Whispered Ron.

"Not well."

Suddenly Percy came into Harry's line of sight. He jumped and tackled a girl, a girl wearing a Hogwarts uniform! What was a student doing out here? The girl punched Percy in the gut and he reeled back. He swung his stick, wait, it was a sword!

The sword made contact with the girl and Harry wanted to look away. Percy was going to kill an innocent student. The sword ran right through the girl!

Harry ran through all the possible reasons why, when he noticed they were talking.

"What do you think is wrong with her?" Percy asked.

"I think there is some sort of influence over her, but it isn't very strong," said Annabeth.

"Guys," said Hazel, calling the attention of the others. "Look at her clothes, it's a Hogwarts uniform. What's the blue and bronze house?"

"Ravenclaw," said Piper. "I think this is Ava."

Piper walked up to her and searched her pockets. Was she robbing her? Piper moved out of Harry's sight and came back with a snapped wand and a coin. Did she break Ava's wand?

"So the monsters have to do with the kidnappings," said Hazel.

Monsters? What monsters?

"Are you hearing this Ron?" Harry whispered. Ron nodded, his face slightly panicked.

"Yeah," said Annabeth. "But what would they want with underage wizards?"

"We want to be feared again," said Ava, her voice was cold and sharp. "We don't want to be treated like pawns anymore!"

Ava rushed the group and ripped the coin from Piper's hand. She tossed it in the air and it transformed into a sword. What was with these people and swords?

"Like the idea," Ava said. "We got it from you Jason."

Ava swung at him but Jason blocked her. Piper body-checked Ava and flattened her to the ground, the sword fell from her hand. Who was doing the wrong here? The exchange students, or Ava?

Percy walked over to Ava and looked at her face. He was blocking her from Harry's view, maybe he was whispering something to her?

"You cannot fight us," Ava said. "Your gods are far away, too far to help you."

Gods, were the exchange students in some sort of a cult?

Ava started laughing. A cold, maniacal laughter that made Harry's spine shiver.

"We need to do something with her," said Percy. "We could take her to the dungeons and try to find a cure for her."

"Either way we need to get her out of the forest," said Hazel. "We can't leave her like this to be manipulated and controlled."

Were they going to lock her up? Harry was getting more and more confused by the second.

"Let's get her to the dungeons and work from there," said Annabeth. "We also need to get a hold of Nico ASAP and tell him about this, we could use him as backup now that we know what the monsters are up to. We should IM Chiron as soon as we are in the clear."

Harry tried to decipher whatever Annabeth had just said. It made almost no sense to him. Except one word, Nico. The demon brother of Hazel. What did they have to do with him? Was he going to lock up Ava, torture her, kill her?

Percy picked up Ava, she murmured something to Percy that Harry couldn't hear.

"Keep fighting them, your safe with us," Percy said. "Hey guys, Ava's coming back a bit."

The others came closer, paying close attention to her, Harry worried they would do something to her. Piper came close to her.

"Keep trying, you can speak," she said. Harry suddenly felt like speaking but covered his mouth, Ron had the same reaction. What dark magic was this?

"They're making an army," Ava said. "They're coming back!" Ava held her hands over her ears and whispered to herself. She shut her eyes and started shaking.

"Ava, you can fight them!" Percy said. "You just were, I believe in you!"

"You cannot fight us!" Said Ava, her eyes were open and she wasn't shaking. "You cannot fight all of us, half-bloods!"

Half-bloods. Were they all half-bloods, no Muggleborns or Purebloods.

Ava started thrashing in Percy's arms. He held her tight and looked towards the others. "We need to get back quickly!"

The exchange students broke out into a run in the forest. Harry quickly moved the broom out of the trees and bolted into the sky. When they came towards the edge of the forest Frank transformed into a bald eagle. Leo tossed the bag and it turned into a flying machine, then ushered everyone on. Jason and eagle Frank flew into the air with great struggle while Leo got the propellers running. Once they started, Frank and Jason took off.

Harry kept his distance but followed their lead. His head was still spinning from all he was taking in.

"So, Ron," said Harry. "How are you holding up?"

"You're not crazy," he said. "There's something they're hiding."

Some of the exchange students jumped off the flying machine as they came close to the school. Percy came crashing down and landed on his side. After a few moments he was standing and Annabeth had opened a secret passageway. The flying machine was packed up and Frank was a human again.

Harry landed the broom and he and Ron jumped off, keeping the invisibility cloak over them. Their feet were peeking out of the bottom but it would have to do. Harry and Ron followed the exchange students into the passage and it closed behind them. They were now at the mercy of their directions.

After a few moments Annabeth opened the secret door to the mysterious room Harry had seen them in earlier. Harry and Ron hurried past Jason who closed the door behind them. Percy set Ava down, the others gathered around her, Harry and Ron hid out in a dark corner.

Ava shot out her arm to try and hit Hazel, but her arm slammed down mid hit.

"I am in control," she told herself. "I am in control."

What was going on? Were the exchange students trying to control her?

"What is this place?" Ava asked. "It's making my thoughts and actions easier to control."

"It's nowhere special," said Annabeth. "But I think you'll have to stay here for a while, or at least until we can find a way to cure you."

Ava nodded. "I don't want to lose myself again."

"Guys," whispered Annabeth. "I don't think we're alone."

Harry's stomach did a flip, Ron covered his mouth. Harry wanted to get out, fast. Their mission had been blown.

"Show yourself!" Shouted Piper.

Harry and Ron simultaneously pulled off the invisibility cloak. Why? Because Piper's voice was so nice, and Harry was sure if they did, all would be well. The exchange students pointed swords and daggers in him and Ron's direction. Harry stepped forward into the light beside Ron.

This is what Piper had wanted them to do. So why did she look so shocked, worried, and scared?


	13. Chapter 13: The Truth

**Harry**

The exchange students stood motionless. They kept glancing at Harry and Ron, then at each other, sharing expressions varying from confusion to fear to rage. Annabeth was the first to speak.

"How long have you been here?"

"Not long," Harry replied. Maybe they would let him and Ron go with a warning.

"How much did you see?" Asked Jason.

"Answer honestly," said Piper. Her voice was smooth and promised peace.

Ron and Harry let their story tumble out. They said one thing after the next, recapping the evening. Only after they were up to present time did Harry realize what a mistake it was to say that. Why would he say that?

"Well that's too long of a time to obliviate," said Annabeth.

"You were going to wipe our memories!" Cried Ron.

"I told you something was wrong with them," hissed Harry.

Annabeth opened her mouth but unintelligible words came out. Or at least it seemed that way to Harry, she was speaking a completely different language. The others nodded and started going around the room.

Jason walked over to a corner and grabbed a length of rope. He then came up to Harry and Ron, he didn't look too threatening, but who knows what he might do.

"Now, you can do this without struggle, I'd hate to have to hurt you," he said. "Hold out your arms."

Harry gave a sideways glance to Ron. They both whipped out their wands and shouted spells at Jason.

"Stupefy!" Cried Ron.

"Expelliarmus!" Shouted Harry.

Jason froze for a moment, the rope didn't even drop from his hand. He looked mad, but he seemed like he expected it.

Jason grabbed Ron's shoulder and turned him around in one swift motion. He had Ron's hands tied in an instant. When Jason turned to Harry, he was anticipating it. Harry reached up to intercept Jason's arm, but was distracted by the tattoo on his arm. Harry only saw it for a moment before Harry was having his hands tied behind his back.

Jason lead them close to the fire and sat them down on the ground. Jason then got to work tying their feet together. Ava crawled over to them, watching them quizzically.

"What's going on?" She asked. "Why are they tying you up?"

"Because there's something wrong with them," whispered Harry.

"But they saved me…"

"Harry, look!" Said Ron nodding towards Percy.

He was standing next to one of the shrines, it was made of sandstone and shells. There was a spout of water pouring out of a trident. Percy moved his hand and the water bended and came up in an arc. It thinned out and became a mist.

Annabeth lit her wand and a rainbow was formed. Annabeth pulled a golden coin from her pocket and tossed it into the mist.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering," she said. "Show me Nico Di Angelo."

The mist changed and an image appeared, it was a dark boy sitting on a bed. He wasn't facing them, he didn't even seem to notice. Harry hoped he wouldn't turn around, that was the demon boy.

"Ron," Harry said. "That's Hazel's brother, the demon boy!"

"Nico," Percy called. Nico turned around to face them. "You need to get here ASAP. We have problems and we could use your help."

"I'll be there in a few minutes," he replied. "I was getting bored of sitting around doing nothing anyway."

"Okay, see you soon," Annabeth said.

Percy broke the connection by slashing his hand through the mist.

"Should we call Chiron?" He asked.

"We should probably give him an update," Annabeth said. "But we can do that after. There are more pressing issues."

Everyone gathered around the fire again. They all looked so much scarier when Harry had to look up to them. The fire cast odd shadows on their faces. Harry tried to get a good look at Jason's tattoo. It was an eagle with the letters SPQR underneath, and twelve lines. Harry looked around and saw Hazel, Frank, and Percy had similar tattoos.

A few seconds later darkness amplified in a single spot. Nico Di Angelo stumbled forward. His dark hair hung over his eyes and his skull ring reflected the firelight. He looked over a Ron, Harry, and Ava.

"Who are they?" He asked.

"Harry, the one who defeated Voldemort," said Annabeth. "Ron, his friend who helped him, and Ava. We found her in the woods under mind control."

"Okay," Nico said. "So why are they here?"

"Harry and Ron followed us into the forest," Jason said. "And they saw everything."

Nico looked at Harry and Ron. He came over to them and crouched down next to them. Harry panicked, was this their hitman or something?

"So, what did you see."

"Jason was flying," Ron said, his voice shaking. "Frank's an animagi, something happened to Ava, Piper has something weird that makes us do stuff, you all speak some foreign language, and Percy can control water."

"That's a fair bit," said Nico. He straightened up and glared at Harry. "I take it you figured this out. What do you make of this?"

"Are you dark wizards?" Harry asked. "Are you in some sort of a cult? I saw the tattoo and I heard something about gods…"

"So do we tell them?" Asked Leo. "They seem to know a lot."

They switched into the other language again, Nico spoke it too. They seemed to be in very heated in discussion. They turned back to face Harry and Ron. Ava was getting more and more confused by the moment.

"We are trusting you with this secret," said Annabeth. "If you betray us, you will pay heavily. This could be a matter of life or death. If we tell you, you will undoubtedly be dragged into a war."

"Another war?" Huffed Ron. "We just finished one."

"Yeah, so did we," said Percy. "And there was one just before that."

"So, do you want to know or not?" Asked Annabeth, her grey eyes scanned them.

"I do," said Harry.

"Me too," said Ron, although he seemed less confident.

"Have you ever heard of the Greek and Roman gods?" Asked Jason.

Harry scoured his brain for information. He knew nothing.

"I know a bit," said Ron.

"I actually know a lot," said Ava. She looked around the room. Her eyes widened. "Zeus and Jupiter, Hera and Juno, Poseidon and Neptune…"

She stood up and walked around the room, mumbling names next to each shrine. She came back over to the exchange students, her eyes bright and filled with excitement.

"What is this place?" She asked.

"This is Pantheon Hall," said Annabeth. "When the gods were in Europe, this is where Half-bloods worshiped them. If they were a student. How do you know so much about the gods?"

"I've read all the old legends," Ava said. "Are they real too?"

The exchange students nodded.

"It shouldn't be a shock to me," Ava said. "Considering wizards and magic are real. My dad would love hearing this, he's a history buff."

"What does this have to do with your secret and a war," Harry said. The rope was beginning to dig into his skin, there would be marks left after it was removed.

"We are children of the gods," said Hazel. "Half-bloods, demigods, we go by many names."

"So you are like the heroes in the stories," Ava said, her eyes sparkled with awe. "Like Odysseus, Theseus, Hercules, Daedalus… Jason and Perseus."

She gazed at Jason and Percy.

"Are you the heroes from the stories?" She asked.

"No. We're not," said Percy. "But we're very similar."

"I am a son of Jupiter," Jason said. "God of the sky."

"That's why you can fly," said Ron.

"I'm a son of Poseidon," said Percy. "God of the seas."

"That explains the water thing…" Harry said.

"Daughter of Athena," Annabeth said. "Goddess of wisdom."

"Son of Hephaestus," Leo said. "God of the forge."

"Daughter of Aphrodite," Piper said. "Goddess of love and beauty."

"Does that have something to do with your ability to make us do stuff?" Asked Ron.

"Yeah," said Piper. "I have Charmspeak. In short, it can make people do things."

"Son of Mars," said Frank. "God of war."

"Does being an animagi come from that?" Harry asked.

"What is that?" Asked Percy.

"A person who can turn into an animal," Harry explained.

"No," said Frank. "It actually comes from being a descendant of Poseidon."

"Wait so does that mean-" Ron was cut off.

"We don't care about the family thing," said Piper. "It's much easier if we ignore it."

"Daughter of Pluto," said Hazel. "God of the underworld."

"Son of Hades," said Nico. "God of the underworld."

"Do you two have the same mother or something?" Asked Harry, he was sure they were siblings.

"No," said Hazel. "Hades is the Greek version of Pluto and vice versa. We have different mothers, but practically the same father."

"Wait, back up," said Ava. "This is amazig and eye-opening, but if the legends are true, are monsters real as well?"

The exchange students, demigods, half-bloods whatever, nodded.

"The mind control you were under," Annabeth said. "It was them controlling you."

The colour drained from Ava's face.

"Are the Titans real too?" She asked. "And all the other powerful beings before the gods."

"Yes," said Jason. "But we've already taken down the Titans when they rose, that was the first war we were in. Then we defeated Gaia when she tried to rise not that long ago."

Harry's mind felt numb, he was taking in so much. But he was easily in better condition than Ron, and definitely better than Ava. She knew much more on this subject, and she was scared.

Hazel kneeled down beside Ava. She took her hand.

"We're here to protect you from the monsters," she soothed. "And like you said, they can't reach you here, this is one of the few standing placed in Europe that the gods still protect."

Ava nodded, but she was still shaking.

"We won't let them control you again," Hazel said. "We promise."

Ava's pale arms embraced Hazel. She stopped shaking. Hazel smiled and returned the hug. How bad could the exchange students possibly be?

They seemed nice enough. But then again, Harry and Ron were still tied up in ropes. But all his questions seemed to have answers from their explanation.

But one thing was at the back of his mind. If the kidnapped students were under mind control, that meant Neville was currently being controlled like a puppet by monsters.

Harry wasn't sure if this was good news, or bad.


	14. Chapter 14: The Dream

**Okay so this is for Annabeth Chase. They wanted more chapters, so here's a freebie.**

 **I update every Sunday and will throw in random ones throughout the week.**

 **Enjoy.**

 **Percy**

So there it was. All out. Their secrets. The gods. Everything.

"If Neville has been kidnapped," Harry started. "Is he under the control of monsters?"

"Most likely," Annabeth replied.

"Can, we go look for him?" Asked Harry.

"We probably should," Frank said. "If there are more students under the control of the monsters, we need to save them. We can't let the monster army get bigger than it has to."

"Okay, when should we leave?" Annabeth asked. "It's really late now, we could go tomorrow, we don't have classes."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Now, can we be untied?" Ron asked.

"Yes, on one condition," Annabeth said. "You promise not to tell anyone about this. Not Hermione or Ginny or anyone else, got it?"

Harry and Ron nodded. Annabeth walked cover and drew her dagger. She sliced through the ropes and the wizards rubbed their wrists.

"Nico," Annabeth said. "Can you stay here and watch Ava, we can't let her go back to classes like this. Until we can break the connection to the monsters, she'll have to live down here."

"Sure," Nico replied. "Are you okay with it Ava?"

Ava nodded. Her eyes reflected the fire light. She twiddled her thumbs, she seemed uncomfortable.

"Are you sure?" Percy asked.

"It's not ideal, but I don't want them in my mind ever again. If this is what it takes, I'll stay down here."

"I have an idea." Nico shadow travelled away. Where was he going?

A few moments passed and Nico appeared. He was holding two sleeping bags and a pair of pillows. Ava helped him roll them out, the moment her head touched the pillow, she was out like a light.

"We should go try and get some sleep while we can," Jason said.

They left and wandered back outside, the moon was high in the sky. Leo set up the flying machine and within a few minutes they had dropped the girls off. When the demigods had gotten back to the dorm, Harry and Ron were already passed out on their beds.

Percy slipped on a hoodie and crashed onto his bed, not bothering to even get under the sheets. Sleep took him quickly. He faded into the darkness, forgetting momentarily about all the problems of the day.

Percy was surrounded by tall trees. Darkness crowded him and cold nipped at his skin. He looked around the area. Movement caught his eye, a person tumbled out of a bush. He was wearing a Gryffindor uniform, which was torn and dishevelled. He carried a sword in his hand.

A low, horrible voice called out from all directions.

"Come face us half-bloods! Face us to rescue your friend!"

The boy walked forward and over to a cage. It was bronze and reflected the moonlight. He walked in and shut the door behind himself. A couple of monsters appeared from the trees and surrounded the cage.

"Come before midnight, or you will never find his remains!" The voice cackled, a deep horrid laugh that shook the earth. Percy looked around for the source of the voice, but found no one.

"Midnight," the student said coldly. It was not his voice, it was mind control.

"Neville, I'll come rescue you!" Percy cried. Reality started to fade away. "I'll protect you! I'll save you!"

Percy melted back into the darkness.

Percy opened his eyes to see the bright room before him. He sat up and rubbed sleep from his eyes. No one else was up yet, but it was easily eight in the morning. Percy got dressed in casual clothes and walked down to the common room. He spotted Annabeth reading by the fire.

Percy sat down next to her and wrapped his arm around her. He stared at the words on the page, they seemed unreadable to him. Stupid dyslexia.

"Can you even read that?" He asked.

"Not well," Annabeth replied. "I mainly do it to blend in. How was your night?"

Percy sighed. "The monsters have Neville. He's in a cage, and if we don't rescue him by midnight they said we'll never find the body."

"Do you know where the cage is?"

"Somewhere in the forest," Percy replied. "I couldn't see any defining features."

"We'll find him before midnight, we have all day."

"Yeah. One problem, they're going to ambush us when they get there, they said we had to face them."

"We've faced worse."

Annabeth went back to her reading. Percy leaned into his girlfriend. He started playing with her hair, twirling the little curls. He watched the gold reflect the firelight.

After about ten minutes Hazel and Piper arrived. They were sleepy, but dressed and ready to go.

"Should we wake up the boys?" Piper asked, fighting a yawn.

"Probably," Annabeth said.

The group walked up the stairs and Percy opened the door. Piper told them to cover their ears. They all did, Piper took a stance at the front of the room.

"Wake up!" Her voice was filled with so much Charmspeak, Percy felt like he just downed a jug of pure caffeine. His hands did almost nothing to combat the Charmspeak.

Everyone in the room bolted out of bed, their eyes wide. Piper smiled to herself and the others took their hands off of their ears.

"Jeez Piper," Leo said. "Who needs coffee with that around. Not saying I'd drink that bitter stuff, but still."

"Okay we need to get going," Annabeth said. "They have Neville held hostage and we have to find him before midnight."

"How do you know that?" Ron asked.

"Demigods have crazy dreams," Percy said. "The monster general was talking to me. I saw Neville, they had him under their control in a cage."

Ron nodded and gathered some clothes. After fifteen minutes everyone as ready. Percy's stomach grumbled, he needed some food first.

"Let's grab some food, then come back for weapons," Percy suggested.

"Fine with me," Annabeth said.

The group descended many flights of stairs to get to the Great Hall. They sat down and began eating, no one talked, everyone was too hungry to talk. Percy crammed fluffy eggs, toast with butter, and sausage into his mouth. After his stomach could take no more he stretched and waited of the others to finish.

Once Hazel finished her toast the group left and started gathering weapons. Demigods grabbed swords and daggers, Harry and Ron grabbed the invisibility cloak and readied their wands.

They decided to use the main entrance instead of the window. Once they were out on the school grounds, they scanned the area for other students. They saw none and set off.

"Potter."

Everyone whipped around to see a scowling blonde on the stairs. He descended and came close to them.

"I see you're awful close to these exchange students," he sneered. "What are you planning to do with those…."

He stared at all the weapons the demigods were holding, trying to decide what they were.

"Sticks?" He said. "Are you planning some stupid prank?"

"Leave them alone Malfoy," Ginny said. She was standing with Hermione on the steps.

She came down in a flurry of red hair. "I have the same question. What are you doing?"

"Last we checked you thought they were evil, why the change of heart?" Hermione asked.

Everyone was at a loss of words. No one wanted to be the one to give the lie, because it needed to be believable. Percy hoped Harry would explain this, he knew what wizards do. He had to come up with a lie.

Percy looked over at Harry. His emerald eyes were scanning the trio in front of him. Ron was shrinking back, everyone waited.

"Well?" Ginny said.

Harry swallowed hard. Percy hoped he had an explanation that wouldn't give everything away. If he didn't, they would have to try again later, they were burning daylight, and Neville was in danger.

But Harry's lips were sealed.


	15. Chapter 15: The Forest

**Harry**

Harry had been put in the position where he had to either lie to one of his best friends and girlfriend, or tell them the truth and get them involved in another war. He didn't really care that much about Malfoy's wellbeing, but he wasn't keen on telling him the truth.

Harry thought about all the pain and problems that the war with Voldemort had brought on. He began to formulate a lie in his mind.

"They were going to show me and Ron as sport they played at their other school," Harry said.

"Oh yeah," said Ginny. "What sport is that?"

"Capture the flag," Percy chimed in. The demigods exchanged looks.

"Capture the flag? You don't even have a flag," said Hermione, she glanced around at them.

"Yeah we do." Hazel pulled out red and blue flags from behind her back. Did she have them there before?

"You go play your childish games, Potter."

Malfoy stalked off in the other direction. Harry let out a breath.

"Can I play?" Ginny asked. "It seems like fun."

"Count me in too," added Hermione.

Well, that's not good.

"Maybe some other time," replied Annabeth. "We'll teach you after we teach these two. They can help you once they get the hang of it."

"Okay," Ginny sighed. "Let's go Hermione."

The two girls left and the demigods looked relieved.

"How did you know to bring flags?" Asked Ron.

"Oh it's just a trick of the Mist," Hazel replied.

Harry was just about to ask what it was when Annabeth cut him off.

"The Mist shields mortals' minds from mythical creatures," she stated. "You wizards can be tricked by it too. We need to get going now before anyone else finds us."

The group walked over to the forest. Annabeth took the lead, followed by Percy, he was trying to find something that looked like the area in his dream. Harry and Ron had been pushed to the middle of the pack, Jason took up the rear.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Leo asked pushing a branch away from his face.

"A cage, made of Celestial bronze," Percy said. "Monsters will probably be waiting to ambush us there. So be on the lookout."

"Oh, Harry, Ron," Annabeth said. "Your magic doesn't work well on mythical creatures, it doesn't even work well on us. So you might not be able to take out a monster with a single spell. Try to work together to heighten the potency of you magic."

Okay, that explains the duelling matches. So how would he and Ron really help? If it took the two of them to take down one, were they being more dead weight than anything else?

The group walked through the forest, getting deeper and deeper into trees. After a while Annabeth stopped them suddenly.

"I found the Omega," she said turning to the others. "Which way do we go?"

"That way," Percy said, extending his arm forward. "We need to go deeper."

The group continued forward. Harry's legs started to ache, and sweat was starting to accumulate on his forehead. But the demigods kept walking. On and on, one foot after the other. Eventually Annabeth called for a short break.

Harry dropped like a rock. Ron followed him to the ground, eager for a rest, no matter how short. Harry scanned the demigods, they were in good shape, this didn't seem to faze any of them.

"How far are we from the school?" Asked Leo.

Jason flew into the air and above the cover of the trees. After a moment he came back down. "I'd say about two miles."

Annabeth called for them to keep walking. Harry wished they would take a longer break, but this was for Neville. He had to be saved by midnight or he would be dead. Harry couldn't let that happen.

"So you guys have all sorts of cool powers right." Said Ron. The demigods murmured in agreement. "What can you do exactly?"

"Well it depends on the demigod," said Annabeth. "We have similar powers to our parent. I don't really have one, but I'm incredibly smart and can strategize."

"Check this out!" Leo's hands caught fire! Unfortunately so did the tree branch next to him.

"Leo!" The others called.

"Percy is there water near by?" Asked Piper.

"It's a little far away, but I can work with it." Percy reached his arm to his left, after a few seconds a stream of water shot through the air. It hit the branch and put out the fire on contact.

The demigods kept walking. Harry wanted to see more, but he decided now was not the best time to ask again.

"I found another Omega," said Frank. He had veered off the trail a bit. He was crouched over a rock. The group surrounded him and looked at it.

"We're on the right track," Percy said. He looked up in the sky, which was mostly blocked with leaves. "It's almost noon, did anyone bring food?"

"I got this." Leo reached into his tool belt. Harry wondered why. Did he keep sandwiches in there?

The group sat down in a circle. Leo began pulling random things out. At first it seemed that they would fit in the pockets, a sandwich here, a bag of chips there. But soon Harry was certain it was enchanted. Leo had a whole picnic in his belt!

They devoured the food without a word. Harry ate a turkey sandwich and had a bag of chips. He washed it down with a bottle of water. The demigods started to stand up, Harry followed suit. Ron had to pulled up, he was sick of walking.

They kept going, checking for Omegas and other signs that they were going in the right direction. They were walking blindly.

"Hello," said a voice. Harry looked around. No one else seemed to hear it. "Come here."

Harry walked into the thick brush. Everyone watched him, and after a few moments followed. Harry came face to face with a teenage girl. She was smiling and wearing an odd outfit.

"Hello," Harry said.

"Hi, I'm Kelli," she said. "Who are you?"

"I-I'm Harry." Her smile was sweet.

A crash came from behind Harry. He turned around to see the demigods with their weapons in attract positions.

"I should've known," Annabeth said. "We're getting closer."

Annabeth ran forward and lunged at Kelli. Harry tried to push Annabeth away, but she was on a mission. Kelli dodged and clawed at Annabeth. Harry saw her hand flicker, like it had long nails on it. Annabeth whipped back around and tried to stab again.

Annabeth hit Kelli's leg. It made a hollow metal sound. What?

Percy ran up and slashed at Kelli's head. Kelli crouched, leaving her open to attacks from Annabeth. Her dagger plunged into Kelli's chest. She turned to dust which showered onto Annabeth, she brushed it off.

"What was that?!" Said Harry. "You killed her! Why?"

"That was an empousa," Percy said. "They're kind of like vampires, the Mist made her look normal to you. Anything you see in this forest is probably a threat, stay alert."

They found their way back to the path and continued. Leo handed out water bottles from his belt, Harry drank some every fifteen minutes or so. How much farther did they need to go?

The sun was getting lower, it was probably mid-afternoon. Harry was getting restless, he wanted to find Neville already! The group crested a hill to find a deep valley below them. It was steep on both sides, the bottom was only a few feet across. There was no way to get around it and stay on route, they would need to go down it, it was too far to jump.

"I'll go to the other side and help you guys up," said Jason. "Frank can help me, we don't have enough time to fly you all across."

Jason flew over, Frank followed behind as an eagle. When he landed he turned into an elephant! Could animagis be two animals?

"I'll go first to try and find a good path," said Annabeth.

She ran right down the valley, her feet never got off course. She reached the bottom and didn't slow, she ran up the incline at full speed. She jumped one foot after the other in almost a zigzag pattern. Jason had his arm out waiting, Annabeth took one final spring and her hand gripped Jason's arm. He pulled her up over the edge and Annabeth called back to the group.

"Just keep moving," she said. "Two at a time. Watch out for loose rocks, but for the most part it should be fine."

"Okay," Percy said. "Harry you're coming with me. Let's go!"

Percy ran over the edge at full speed. Harry followed behind at a slower pace. As soon as he started going down the hill, his feet stopped cooperating. He kept tripping over them. He felt his body shift, he was going to fall down!

Just as Harry's face almost hit the dirt, he was lifted into the air. Frank the eagle was gripping his shoulders. Harry was lifted to the other side, where Percy was being hauled up by Jason.

The next pair went, Hazel and Ron. Ron had to be rescued too. Finally Leo and Piper went, neither of them needed assistance. The group kept going, Harry hoped there weren't any more valleys like that.

"How can they do that?" Asked Ron. "I almost died."

"I don't know," said Harry. "It was really steep. Maybe they have training?"

"Guys, we have a problem!" Called Annabeth.

Harry looked up to where she was stopped. Above her like a huge arc way, was an Omega made up of gold and bronze. In the distance Harry saw a bronze cage. A figure was waiting inside.

"Neville." The word fell from his lips. They were so close, why were they stopping?

"Get ready for an ambush," Percy said. He pulled a pen from his pocket and it sprang into a sword. The other demigods got weapons ready. Annabeth walked over to the wizards.

"Here, take these," she said. "But only use them as a last resort."

Annabeth handed them each a dagger. Ron's was bronze, but Harry's was gold.

"Why are they made of different metals?" Ron asked.

"Those were the extras," she said. "Celestial Bronze is used by Greek half-bloods and Imperial Gold is used by Romans."

Harry looked at what each of the demigods were using. It was about fifty-fifty of gold to bronze. Interesting.

"Harry and Ron, you're in charge of getting Neville," Annabeth commanded. "We will protect you, you need to get Neville out of the cage. He'll probably fight you, once you have the cage unlocked, call for backup. Don't try to play the hero. I know it might seem hard, but we are trained to do these kinds of things. We can disarm him without hurting him."

Harry nodded. He couldn't imagine Neville trying to hurt him. But he was under mind control. This wasn't his choice.

"Once we cross the threshold, we will be attacked," said Jason. "Get ready."

Everyone got ready to run, Harry scanned for monsters but couldn't see any, what if they weren't going to be ambushed?

"Charge!" Yelled Percy.

Everyone moved forward in a pack of blades, feet, and arms. Harry couldn't see well from the amount of dirt that was being kicked up, but he could see figures appearing from behind trees.

It was an ambush.

And Harry wasn't the least bit ready.

 **Hey guys, remember the other kidnapped students?**

 **Well I am letting you make them. You can give me names, genders, personalities, anything really. Here's who's been kidnapped so far:**

 **First year from Hufflepuff**

 **Third year from Ravenclaw**

 **Fourth year from Slytherin**

 **Plus Ava, a fifth year from Ravenclaw**

 **And Neville a seventh year (sort of eighth) from Gryffindor.**

 **Please have submissions in by Saturday May 5th if you want your character in the story.**


	16. Chapter 16: The Kidnapped

**Okay a few quick things:**

 **First of all, Darkness Returns has gotten over 10,000 views! Thank you all for your support!**

 **Second thank you for the character submissions. If yours wasn't picked, don't feel bad, they were all great and it was hard to pick.**

 **On that note, if the character was changed in any way, I did it simply because it didn't fit with the plot.**

 **Now enjoy!**

 **Annabeth**

Annabeth swung her drakon bone sword and beheaded a monster. She whipped right back around and beheaded another. There were more monsters than she'd ever seen outside of Tartarus. Gold dust was thick in the air.

An arrow came through a monsters head. Frank was one sharp shooter, it was hard to see through all these monsters, dust and dirt. Another arrow took out a demon that was fighting Hazel.

Annabeth kept cutting through the hordes of monsters. A layer of dust was covering her sweaty skin, blood was pouring from a couple wounds. She searched for the wizards, hopefully they were holding their own. Or they were being protected, probably the latter.

Annabeth struck another in the chest and shoved them back into a pair of monsters. Annabeth took the chance to run out of the battle, she saw Harry and Ron running a short distance away. Annabeth caught up to them, they had gold dust all over them.

"How are you two holding up?" Annabeth asked.

"I've been better," replied Ron. He was clutching his dagger like a lifeline. "Is this what you deal with all the time?"

"It's not always this bad." Annabeth saw a cage gleaming in the distance. "Guys look!"

That seemed to give the boys a bit more energy. They ran faster and Annabeth matched their pace, the cage came into view. A figure sat inside.

They were ten feet from it when the figure shifted. They stood up and waited for the trio to arrive. Annabeth peered into the cage, this wasn't Neville.

A tall boy with dark hair waited for them. His dark grey eyes were cold, a silver and green tie was around his neck. He opened his mouth, but it wasn't his voice.

"Good luck against your first challenger!"

The Slytherin pushed open the cage door and flipped a coin. A spear was in his hand within a few seconds. He stabbed in the direction of Harry.

Annabeth lunged and grabbed the shaft of the spear. She forced it down and stomped her foot on it. It snapped like a gunshot through the forest.

The boy looked around confused. His eyes were curious and clear.

"What happened?" He asked.

"You were kidnapped, we're here to rescue you," said Annabeth. "What's your name?"

"Felix Lee," he said. "How was I kidnapped?"

"We're still not sure," replied Harry.

"We need to go," urged Annabeth. "Felix, do you have your wand?"

Felix searched his pockets but came up empty. Annabeth gave him her extra dagger and lead them through the woods. Felix was a surprisingly good runner, after ten minutes they came upon another cage.

Inside was a girl with icy blue eyes. She was waiting, sword in hand. She wordlessly opened the cage and jumped on Ron.

He was knocked back, she swung her sword in an arc to block the other boys from running forward. Ron took this opportunity to stab upwards with his dagger. The girl took the hit to the chest.

But she was fine.

She didn't have godly blood.

Annabeth tackled her to get her off of Ron. The girl slashed with her sword and Annabeth blocked it. She swung at the girl with all her might, but the girl blocked the hit with her sword, not swaying.

The girl pushed Annabeth back into a tree, the bark hit her back. Her wrist was being pushed at an odd angle. The girl pushed harder and Annabeth heard a snap.

Pain surged through her wrist, it was surely broken, but she had more important things to worry about. Annabeth turned her blade and pushed it with her other hand. The girl was pushed back a foot, Ron was waiting.

He gripped her hard and Annabeth grabbed her sword. It would be harder to break than a spear. Annabeth placed it on the ground and with her left hand swung the drakon bone sword at full force near the hilt.

The blades collided with a crack. The sword snapped near the hilt leaving a jagged edge. The girl seemed to wake up. Ron released her.

"They were in my head." Her voice was soft and had a melodic tone to it. "I'm sorry for whatever they made me do."

"It's not your fault," said Annabeth, placing a hand on the girls shoulder.

"Who are you people?" She asked.

"I'm Annabeth, this is Ron, Harry, and Felix. You?"

"Rose."

"What house are you in?"

"Hufflepuff."

"The only others that are missing are the Ravenclaw and Neville," said Harry. He looked at the horizon. "The sun is setting we need to hurry."

Annabeth tore a strip from the bottom of her shirt. She grabbed a stick and laid it on top of her wrist. She winced as she wrapped the fabric around it, hoping this would work.

She tied it and grabbed her sword with her left. She lead the group, every step make her wrist hurt but she had no time to waste. Tears were accumulating in her eyes, but she kept running.

They came upon another cage. Annabeth hoped she could fend off who ever was inside. They waited for them to move, but they were still. This set all of Annabeth's instincts into overdrive. Should she attack it, wait, what?

The girl looked up, her eyes were bloodshot, she had bags under her blue eyes. Two gold bands were on her wrists. She looked up at Annabeth, her eyes were clear.

"Please," she said. "Help me."

Annabeth knelt down beside the girl. She was the Ravenclaw, her outfit was torn, scratches covered her arms and neck. Her hair was unkempt and muddy.

She held up her wrists and Annabeth saw the gold bands weren't an accessory, they were made of Imperial Gold. What were they for? Annabeth reached into the cage and examined them.

"They have spikes on the inside," the girl said. "They stab me if I don't do what they want."

Annabeth looked them over for something that would get them off. They were too tight to pull off, but she had no idea how they got them on.

"How are you resisting the mind control?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know. But every time I fall asleep they can control me, I haven't slept in days."

"What's your name?"

"Dawn Daniels."

"Okay Dawn, I'm going to try something, please don't worry."

Annabeth reached out for one of the boys' daggers. Felix handed her his. She turned over Dawn's hand and dragged the dagger across a small area of skin. Blood dripped from the shallow cut.

"Who are your parents?" Annabeth asked setting down the dagger.

"Marie and Robert Daniels."

"They're both your biological parents?"

"Yeah."

Annabeth though for a moment. "I think you might be a legacy."

"A what?" Dawn asked.

"Imperial Gold and Celestial Bronze can only hurt monsters and those with godly blood. A legacy is a descendant of a god."

Dawn pulled back her hands and reached into her pocket. She pulled out a coin.

"Take this away," she said. "I don't want to hurt you with it."

"Can you make that into a spear?" Annabeth asked.

Dawn flipped the coin and it transformed into a spear. Annabeth snapped it, Dawn looked the same as before.

"That should stop the mind control. We need to go now." Annabeth said.

Dawn shuffled over to the door and pushed it open. Annabeth heard branches snapping and whipped around. Jason was flying through the trees, holding an unconscious Hazel.

Jason touched down near the group. "Who are they?"

"Felix, Rose and Dawn. The other kidnapped students. What happened to Hazel?"

"It's pure chaos over there," said Jason. "She over exerted herself trying to keep Frank unseen. The others are following, we need to hurry up and get Neville, a whole army is on our tail."

"Okay you heard him, let's go." Annabeth lead the charge again, Dawn was having trouble keeping up.

The final cage came into view. Annabeth was ready to breathe a sigh of relief when Dawn's scream pierced the air.

Annabeth whipped around to see her wrists covered in blood. Jason was the first to get to her. He tried to calm her while the others crowded her.

Annabeth saw the spikes had dug deep into her skin. Tears were pouring from her eyes, her hands were becoming bloodstained. They had to get these off.

"Who was that?" Called a familiar voice from a bit behind.

"Dawn, one of the kidnapped!" Jason called back.

After a few moments Percy and Frank ran into view. The others cleared a path for them to get to Dawn. Percy grabbed her hands and looked at the wounds.

"Where are Piper and Leo?" Asked Jason.

"Back a little ways," said Frank.

Percy put out a hand, a few seconds later a stream of water washed away the blood on Dawn's hands and wrists. Annabeth wished Leo was here, he could probably figure out what made the bands work.

"Is she a demigod?" Asked Percy.

"I think she's a legacy," replied Annabeth.

Leo and Piper ran over to them, they were covered in dust, but in good shape.

"Guys," called Piper. "Good news, the Hunters are here!"

"They scared away the monsters," added Leo.

A group clad in silver with bows appeared from the trees. Thalia was near the front, her face still young and glowing with immortality.

Jason ran over to her and they exchanged some words and a hug. He thanked the Hunters before they set off. When Jason came back he reported that they were going to fend off the monsters until they left the forest.

"Leo, can you get these off?" Asked Percy, pointing to the bands, which had gotten bloody again.

Leo bent down and looked them over. He grabbed a pair of cutters from his belt and snapped them into two pieces each. They still dangled from her mangled skin. He pulled them out and Percy washed the blood away.

When the water cleared, Dawn's wounds were almost gone. Pink indents were all that was left. Percy washed more water over them, her wounds were completely gone.

All the demigods stared in awe.

Dawn was a legacy of Neptune or Poseidon.


	17. Chapter 17: The Last Challenger

**Okay authors note, concerning some other fanfics and next weeks update.**

 **First of all, fanfics.**

 **Now this isn't to bash on others at all. I'm thinking of writing two new fanfics in the near future. The first will be a crossover between PJO and Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, the second with be a PJO superhero au. Please tell me if you are interested and if you think they would be good ideas.**

 **Secondly, next weeks update. Next weekend is a long weekend where I live, so I'll be camping until Monday, away from internet connections. So, I will not be updating Sunday.**

 **I'll be updating Monday.**

 **Since I do go camping often, I'll try to give you a heads up for late updates. But still expect this fanfic to update weekly! I refuse to abandon it!**

 **Sorry this is so long, read on!**

 **Harry**

Harry was still processing what was happening around him. The group had gotten together and Neville's cage was only a short distance away, but they were still sitting around talking about Dawn.

Not to be rude, but Neville would be dead at midnight. The sun was already gone and it would only get later the more they waited.

"Can we save Neville now?" Harry finally asked.

The demigods looked over at him and gathered their things. They stood up and readied their weapons. Harry could see Neville waiting to attack them.

The demigods ran forward first, leaving the wizards to run behind in the dust they kicked up. But the demigods were the ones with training and swords, so maybe they should handle Neville.

The cage was a few feet away. Neville was waiting inside, his outfit was muddy and torn, a fist was at his side. He opened it and flipped a shiny coin, a sword was in his grasp. He didn't open the door, he just waited.

"I wish you the best of luck demigods," he said in a cold voice. "I really do. I wanted to play fair, but you brought the Hunters, so I get my own reinforcements."

Monsters came from every angle. They dropped from branches and crawled out from dark hiding spots. They had sharp teeth, menacing claws, wings, tails, leathery skin, you name it. Neville swung open the cage door and all the monsters ran in at once.

Percy met swords with Neville while the others moved to attack monsters. Harry gripped his dagger, hoping he wouldn't have to get close enough to a monster to use it.

A burning pain slashed across Harry's back. He whipped around to see a monster with a bloody claw. Harry's back was probably bleeding, he could've died if that monster had gone for his head.

Harry stabbed the dagger forward but the monster sidestepped with ease. The monster swung its sharp claws and they dug into Harry's side. Harry stabbed again, this time missing by a few inches.

The monster moved forward and made a slash at Harry's chest. Harry fell backwards and hit the ground. Dirt sticking to his bloody wounds, he hoped they wouldn't get infected.

The monster lunged down but Harry stabbed his dagger up. It hit the monster right in the chest, it exploded into dust that showered down on Harry. He pushed himself up and surveyed the scene.

Percy and Neville were still battling. Ron and Felix were taking on a monster that had tried to attack Rose. Hazel was protecting Dawn while the other demigods were each taking on a monster, some were holding their own against two or three.

The dust was getting thicker as more and more monsters exploded. Harry ran over to Ron and Felix and stabbed at the monster. It anticipated the attack, but Ron was able to slash its chest. It exploded into a cloud of gold.

Harry looked over at Rose. She was shaking, tears in her eyes. She was only 11 but was being exposed to this, Harry felt like getting her far away from here, but he knew that would only get her into a more dangerous situation.

"Protect Rose, got it?" Harry said. The other two nodded.

The trio turned their backs to Rose and made a circle around her. They all held their daggers out waiting for another attack.

A loud crack came across the battle. Everyone, monsters, demigods, and wizards, stopped. Harry saw through the chaos a snapped sword at Neville's feet and a very tired Percy.

But the monsters weren't done yet.

They jumped right back into action, slicing claws and snapping teeth at demigods. They were caught off guard but no one was seriously injured.

The dust become so thick Harry felt like he could cut it with his dagger. Eventually a voice cut through the battle.

"How many monsters are left?" Called Piper.

A couple voices called back how many they could see. They decided on about a dozen. After a few minutes, silence was all that could be heard. Harry was glad a monster hadn't attacked them. Like really glad. He was done fighting with a dagger.

"Come over here!" Called Annabeth.

They moved as a unit towards the sound of her voice and shuffling feet. After they got far enough away from the battleground, Harry could see where they were gathering. Harry hurried to get over there, away from exploded monsters.

"How are we with injuries?" Asked Piper.

At the mention of it, Harry's wounds suddenly felt painfully. The adrenaline must have worn off. No one else had bad injuries, just a couple cuts. Why did he have to be so unlucky?

"I got clawed," Harry said.

"My wrist is still broken," added Annabeth.

"Anyone have some nectar or ambrosia?" Percy asked.

The demigods shook their heads. The wizards just looked at them with confused glances.

"Harry, how bad are the claw marks?" Asked Piper.

Harry turned around, a few people murmured about ways to fix it. Eventually Percy cleaned the cuts with some water and Leo got some gauze from his tool belt. Harry's wounds were still bleeding, but chances for an infection just dropped by about 90% so Harry wasn't about to complain.

Leo then put a better makeshift cast on Annabeth's wrist. Leo gave some gauze and bandages to people and they started dressing their wounds. Eventually everyone was fixed up, or as best as they could do in the middle of a forest.

"We need to get back to Hogwarts fast," said Annabeth. "Jason, Frank, scout for us."

They lifted off into the air. Frank the eagle had a tough time getting through the canopy, so he changed into an owl. After a few moments the pair landed and relayed what the saw.

"If we go on that path, we can get to the lake," said Jason, pointing at a worn trail. "Then we can swim across. It doesn't make us go through the monster camp and is the shortest route. Any objections?"

The group was silent.

Their team of now thirteen set off into the woods. Harry's lack of sleep was starting to catch up with him, his legs moved sluggishly over the terrain and his eyes refused to focus. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ron run into a tree head on. He quickly got back on the path, at least he wasn't the only sleepy one.

The moon came almost to the top of the sky when they reached the lake. The black water looked frigid, Harry wasn't excited to jump in.

Percy dove into the water, leaving a ripple in his wake. He stayed under for a while before his head broke the surface.

"No monsters," he reported. "But it's really deep. Try to leave as much extra clothes and gear on shore as you can. I'll try to move the water to help you, but I have to make sure no one drowns."

People started shedding sweaters and knifes. Harry took off some extra layers, including his shoes.

"Will we be able to get these back?" Harry asked.

"I can ferry them over after on one of the boats on the other shore," replied Percy.

A few people got into the water and started swimming forward. Harry walked into the lake getting his socks wet. He dove forward getting almost everything wet. His teeth chattered and his skin froze. He felt his lips turning blue. He looked over at Ron, who's wet hair was hanging over his eyes, he started swimming forward. Harry followed closely, wishing he could just walk around the lake.

 **Percy**

Percy waited for the last of the group to get in the water and start swimming. Percy pushed the water to help them along, but it was hard to make sure no one went under or was shoved off to the side. They were mostly on their own.

Percy willed the water around himself to push him forward, he got to the front of the group and pushed the water, focusing on those with serious injuries and those who were half asleep. The group got ahead of him and he pushed to the front again.

This monotonous cycle repeated until they reached about the middle of the lake. Dawn looked tired and cold, her eyes were shutting. Percy watched as her head dipped below the surface.

Possible legacy of Poseidon/Neptune or not, she might drown.

Percy ducked under the water and watched her sink lower and lower. Air escaped her lips in bubbles, she would get a mouthful of water soon.

Percy swam over to her and made an air bubble around their heads. She was still half asleep, she hadn't slept in days, she deserved a break.

Percy started to head upward when Dawn fell under the water. She dropped like a rock, air flowing from her mouth. She took in a breath and woke up, spitting out water. She was at least twenty feet under the surface, she would not get to air fast enough.

Percy dove down and grabbed her in his arms, making another air bubble around them. She took a deep breath, her hair was matted to her face, her lips were blue from the cold. Percy looked around and saw darkness, they were really deep.

"Take a moment to catch your breath," Percy said. Dawn was still taking desperate gulps of air.

Once her breath steadied Percy let her go. She used her legs to keep her torso in the bubble. Percy started upward and Dawn followed, keeping her head in the bubble for a good five feet.

Her head suddenly dipped down.

Dawn turned herself and swam downwards. She moved swiftly through the water into the dark depths at least fifty feet below the surface. Percy looked upwards and saw the group had passed from the area, he let the air bubble pop and dove downwards.

Dawn had vanished in the depths of the lake. Percy followed a small trail of bubbles, he saw a boat mast sticking up. He swam over to it, his feet touched the sandy lake bottom. He looked around for any sign of Dawn.

She appeared from behind a mast. She was breathing just fine, maybe she really was a legacy of Poseidon or Neptune.

She swam over. She looked different in the murky lake bottom. As she came closer Percy noticed it wasn't the lake that made her look different.

Her teeth were sharp, her eyes glowed a pale blue. Her skin looked like it was made of scales. Her legs had merged to make a green tail. She opened her mouth and spoke in a voice that sounded husky, like she had drank a lot of saltwater.

"So, son of Poseidon," she said. "Are you prepared to die?"


	18. Chapter 18: The Siren

**Hey guys I'm back! Next week I will be updating on the regular schedule again. Hope you like what's coming up...**

 **Percy**

Percy took a few steps back. The sea creature before him stayed still, teeth bared in an ugly smile. Was this really Dawn?

"Are you scared little half-blood?" She taunted, eyes gleaming maliciously.

"Why would I be scared of you!" Percy spat back. "This is my domain!"

"But you are forgetting something." Dawn dipped out of sight. "It is mine as well."

Percy uncapped Riptide and turned in a circle, searching for Dawn. Percy saw movement and swung his sword. It struck the sandy bottom. He heaved it up and swam upwards, he would have a better view from above.

He looked around but couldn't see anything moving. Where did she go?

"Percy," came a sing song voice. "Come to me. I promise you your greatest desires."

Percy followed the sound. The voice kept singing. With every verse Percy was forgetting where he was going, why he was going there. All he cared about was the nice voice that would fill the empty void inside of him. All that was missing from his life was down below, he was almost there.

Percy stopped as the singing creature came into view. The siren lead Percy over to a ship mast, never breaking her song. She pressed him against the old wood and tied him up with ropes. She grabbed Percy's sword and tossed it away with inhuman strength. The faint glow of the sword was lost in the depths.

The siren kept singing, Percy kept listening intently. Dawn rose up towards the surface, out of sight. But the impression of her song was left on Percy. He stayed under the water, tied up, in a daze. Everything would be alright, if he just stayed here.

Everything would be fine.

 **Annabeth**

The group had reached the shore, wet, cold, and tired. Annabeth watched the water for any signs of Dawn or Percy. Dawn had began to drown, so Percy had gone down to rescue her.

But it had been a long time since she had gone under.

The group watched the calm surface in silence. A head broke the surface.

Dawn took huge gasping breaths. She began to swim towards shore, Annabeth waited intently for Percy to follow.

Dawn was almost at shore, no Percy.

Annabeth searched for disturbances in the water, but found none. Dawn came onto shore, coughing breathes escaping her lungs. Her face was pale, her eyes red, her hair hung like a wet mop.

"Where's Percy?" Annabeth asked, she was getting worried. Her boyfriend may be the son of Poseidon, but there were monsters all over the forest. They could easily be in the lake.

Dawn took a few more ragged breaths before answering. "Monster…battle...saved me...said...he would...be fine...stabbed...bled...captured…"

Dawn collapsed on shore. Annabeth noticed she had a cut across her leg, what had happened? Annabeth shoved her impending scream back into her throat.

Her boyfriend, her loyal, silly, stupid boyfriend, was captured by the monsters.

A single, hot tear fell down her cheek.

The rest of the group sat in silence.

"How could they beat him in the water?" Asked Jason, his voice raw.

"We can't think about that now," said Annabeth, putting on a brave face. "We need to get back to Pantheon Hall, and get some rest."

Jason picked up Dawn, the remainder of the group leaned on each other for support. All their extra clothes were across the lake, too far to get, so they shivered in silence.

Annabeth lead the way through the secret passage to the dungeon, then into Pantheon Hall. When they walked in, Nico was sitting by the fire, Ava was sleeping. Nico turned around to face them, his face unreadable.

Annabeth walked over to Ava and shook her shoulder. She roused, looking shocked for a few seconds before remembering who Annabeth was.

"I need the coin you have," said Annabeth.

"I actually have it," piped up Leo.

Annabeth walked over to Leo. He grabbed out the coin from his tool belt and Annabeth flipped it.

Nothing happened.

"Let me try," said Ava.

Ava pushed herself from the floor and walked over. She grabbed the coin and flipped it. It transformed into a sword in her hand.

"Could you turn it into a spear, it'll be easier to break," said Annabeth.

Ava flipped the sword and it turned into a spear. She was handing it to Annabeth when her eyes when cold, her smile vanished.

"We can put all of our willpower into this girl now," came a cold, unnatural voice. "Your gods' protection is not strong enough."

Ava stabbed forward in the direction of Leo. He jumped out of the way, Piper jumped in and grabbed the shaft. Ava pulled towards herself and Piper came tumbling forward. Ava kneed her in the stomach and she went down.

Annabeth tackled Ava and the spear fell from her grasp. Jason grabbed the spear and snapped it over his knee. It cracked loudly, echoing through the room.

Ava's eyes cleared and her face became stricken with worry. Annabeth released her, she fell to the ground. Hazel wrapped her arms around her.

"I'm so weak," she whispered.

Hazel just gripped her tighter. The group took up spots around the fire. Only then did Nico realize who was missing.

"Where's Percy?"

"He, um, got captured," answered Piper.

An awkward silence ensued.

"We should head back to our dorms and sleep," said Annabeth.

A murmur of agreement passed through the room, before a small voice piped up.

"What do we say about the kidnappings?" Asked Rose.

"You say a rogue death eater kidnapped you," said Annabeth. "Say that they were found by whoever handles the law in the wizarding world, and that you managed to escape. Just keep your story straight, and matching the others. We had nothing to do with it. You don't know us."

Felix, Rose, Neville and Dawn nodded.

"Can we go back now, I'm going to pass out soon," stated Leo.

The group sneaked through the school dropping off students until the majority were left to head to Gryffindor tower. They entered the common room after a talk with a very concerned portrait, and walked up to their dorms.

Annabeth stripped off her wet clothes and slipped on some sweat pants and one of Percy's old hoodies. She'd borrowed it when they went to an amusement park and claimed it as her own afterwards.

She climbed into her bed, her mind full of every sweet thing Percy had ever done. Then slowly, it got to all the times she thought she was going to see him die. After a few minutes her pillow was wet from silent tears.

She wiped her eyes and allowed herself to sleep. The dark oblivion wrapped around her and she fell into a deep sleep.

For a moment she forgot about demigod dreams.

Only a moment.

Annabeth was floating in murky lake water. She was deep under but had no trouble breathing, this is what Percy must feel like when he swims. It was nice to not worry about drowning.

Annabeth saw a faint glowing just a bit in the distance. She moved her limbs and swam over to the source. A pair of glowing eyes was watching her.

She tried to swim away, but her body wasn't listening. Only them did she notice the singing. A siren's song.

But it wasn't meant for her, she was just getting the strong effects of it. She forced herself to turn around, which required a lot of effort. She then saw something she wished she could unsee.

Tied to a mast was Percy, his head dropping, his hair covering his eyes. He was defeated, in a complete daze from the siren's song. Annabeth locked eyes with the siren again. She was familiar.

The siren swam up to Annabeth, her scaly arm reached out and touched her cheek. Annabeth felt frozen as the siren sang her song in a raspy voice. Once she finished, the siren let her hand slide down Annabeth's face to her neck. Her other hand joined and they both iron gripped her throat.

She found it hard to breathe, her thoughts were getting jumbled.

"I can't have this getting told to them," she said. "They'll think you just died in your sleep."

Annabeth wanted to protest, saying she couldn't be killed in a dream, but could she? She wasn't about to take that chance.

Annabeth kicked the siren in the stomach. The siren was shocked, Annabeth was too. The song was losing its effect since it wasn't meant for her!

Annabeth kicked her legs hard, she moved her arms rapidly, she was closing in on the surface. She was almost there when the siren grabbed her ankle.

Flashbacks of being dragged to Tartarus by her ankle plagued her. She kicked with the force of a bull and broke the surface.

Annabeth woke up, gasping for air. Tears stained her cheeks, she was shaking in a cold sweat. Her hands reached for her neck, she felt no marks.

Hazel and Piper woke up and looked at her. Wordlessly they knew what was going on. They came over to Annabeth in an instant and had their arms around her.

"What happened?" Asked Piper.

"Percy's being held hostage by a siren."


	19. Chapter 19: Prying Eyes

**I'm so sorry about the late update. I was really busy this weekend and into Monday. I also just started watching Voltron: Legendary Defender and got pretty hooked on that so...**

 **Anyway, my weekends have gotten busier than I thought they would, so I will now be updating on Tuesdays!**

 **Also Annabeth you were not being annoying, thanks for getting me motivated to keep writing!**

 **New fanfic! I am working on a PJO/HoO superhero au and really like it! It will be released this week or next, the working title is currently Alpha Heroes, so watch for it.**

 **Anyway, sorry for rambling, Chapter 19!**

 **Hermione**

The rumours about the kidnapped students spread like wildfire. A lone death eater had captured them but they managed to escape, it was good to have Neville back. But he was acting really distant. Someone would ask him something about the kidnapping and he would give a short answer and leave the room, eyes downcast.

Hermione had tried on many occasions to talk to him, but he was closed off. And not only that, Percy, one of the exchange students, had vanished a few days ago. No one knew why, not the professors or the other exchange students. It was unsettling, what if the death eater who was captured had escaped, or what if he was not working alone.

Hermione set down her quill and looked over her essay for arithmancy. She set it aside after triple checking it and started on her potions homework. The common room was quiet because of quidditch practice, only a few others were sitting in the room.

Annabeth came down the stairs, her body more slumped than usual. She had been a mix of emotions since Percy had vanished, anxious, worried, scared, sad. Just last night Hermione could hear her murmuring in her sleep over and over again. "Percy...Percy.."

Annabeth plopped onto a chair by the fire and opened a book. You could only tell she was there by the occasional crinkle of paper. Hermione refocused on her homework when she heard footsteps coming through the common room.

Piper and Hazel sat down near Annabeth, in a silence that said more words than speech. An understanding passed through them all, they were probably all close to Percy.

Hermione searched the table for her book on different types of roots, but couldn't find it. She stood up and walked to her dorm, she searched her bed, trunk, and the floor for it, but it was missing.

She walked around the dorm, checking the other girls' beds, not rummaging through their stuff, but giving it a once over. She crouched down and looked under the beds, something under Annabeth's bed caught her eyes.

She crawled over and reached her hand under. It was rude to pry, but she felt compelled to look at it. It was placed in such a way that it would be almost completely hidden, it was tied to the bottom of the mattress. The only way you would be able to see it would be to look under her bed, or see it glint when the sun was in just the right place.

Hermione fingers brushed the object and she grabbed a hold of it. She pulled it down and recoiled immediately. The knife clattered to the floor, a golden dagger, that was expertly hidden. Hermione checked her bed again but found no other weapons.

She placed it in an inside pocket and moved to Piper's bed. She slid herself under and lit the tip of her wand, another glint caught her eye. She removed another dagger from a hidden pocket, this time it was bronze.

Hermione lastly checked under Hazel's bed and found a third and final knife. This one was gold like the first. Completely forgetting about her book, Hermione put all three blades into a bag and slung it over her shoulder. She walked into the common room and kept her head down.

The three exchange students didn't even glance up, Hermione kept an even pace and left the room without drawing attention. Once the portrait swung shut, she let out a sigh of relief.

Hermione hurried down the halls towards McGonagall's office. If anyone knew what to do about exchange students with hidden weapons, it would be her. Hermione came upon the door and gave a few short knocks. McGonagall stepped out, her eyes regarded Hermione inquisitively.

"Please, come in," she said.

Hermione stepped inside and took a seat across from the desk. McGonagall sat down across from her after closing the door. She folded her hands before speaking.

"Now what do I owe this pleasure, you rarely are in my office," she said.

Hermione ran over what to say before she started. "I found weapons under Annabeth, Piper and Hazel's beds," she said simply.

"Do you happen to have evidence to back up your claim?"

Hermione opened the bag and deposited the three daggers onto the desk. McGonagall picked up a gold one and examined it. She set it back down after a moment.

"This is troubling, although I am sure they have their reasons, they were out after curfew the night the kidnapped returned and Percy vanished," McGonagall stated. "I'll have to speak with them. Thank you for your concern Hermione, it is always good to stay alert."

Hermione left the office and headed back up to the Gryffindor common room. She double checked the room but still couldn't find the book on roots. She rummaged through some parchment before pulling out her note on some varieties, it would have to do for now.

 **Hazel**

McGonagall came into the common room and asked for Piper, Annabeth, and Hazel, her stomach immediately dropped. She shakily got up from the couch with the other two. They followed McGonagall out, Hazel walked behind her in silence, her heart rate slowly rising.

Compared to the other demigods, Hazel had been a saint at school. She didn't destroy anything, didn't almost kill anyone, and almost never got into trouble. So she wasn't the greatest at calmly going to a teachers' office.

She sat down in a chair opposite the desk. Piper and Annabeth took spots on either side of her. McGonagall closed the door and sat down across from Hazel, her eyes cold.

"Hermione came to me with some troubling news today," she said cooly. "She gave me these and said they belonged to you three."

McGonagall reached down and exposed three daggers. They were the extra ones that had been hidden under their beds, Hazel dropped her gaze. They were caught, no denying it.

"Those aren't ours," Piper said her voice dripping with Charmspeak. Hazel fully believed it for a split second, but it wore away after a moment.

"They aren't?" McGonagall asked, sounding puzzled.

"No, they belong to Goldbane," Piper lied, her voice still strong. "He lent them to us to study for an extra credit assignment."

"We wanted to get ahead and he told us to research ancient Muggle weaponry," added Annabeth. "He had some on hand."

"See, his name is engraved on the blade," Hazel continued.

McGonagall inspected the blades, her eyes being tricked by the Mist. Satisfied, she handed the trio back their daggers and made them promise to notify the other dorm mates when they had weapons in their rooms.

They all agreed and turned to leave the room. Piper looked back and gave McGonagall a command in Charmspeak. "Don't bring this up with Goldbane, or any other teachers for that matter. If Hermione asks, tell her about the extra credit assignment."

McGonagall nodded and the trio left the room. Once in the hall, they hid their weapons in their uniforms and started to move away from the office. They got far enough away to speak without being heard.

"We need to hide these better," said Piper.

"I have an idea where we can hide them," said Annabeth. "Let's go."

They made it back to their dorm with only a few curious glances from Hermione. Annabeth closed the door and walked over to her trunk. She slid it aside and pried up a loose floorboard. She placed the daggers inside and pushed the wooden panel back into place. She shoved her trunk over top to keep them far away from prying eyes.

"They might be harder to get at in an emergency," Annabeth said. "But, Hermione will have to work pretty hard to find them again."

Satisfied the group went back to their normal activities. A loud crash came from somewhere upstairs, Hazel's head whipped up along with a few others. A second came and Hazel raced up to the source of the noise. It was the boys' dorm.

Annabeth and Piper were on her heels, Hazel whipped open the door to see Percy with Riptide to Jason's throat while Frank and Leo tried to pry him off of Jason. Percy whipped his head up, his eyes were panicked and confused like a mad man.

He pushed off Leo and Frank and ran to the open window. He jumped out of sight, the group ran over to see him expertly gliding down the great castle before hitting the ground and running towards the lake. He dove in and vanished from sight.

Everyone looked at each other. Hazel saw the pure fear in Annabeth's eyes, what had the siren done to Percy that would make him try to kill Jason?


	20. Chapter 20: A Fading Daze

**I apologize for the short chapter.**

 **Lately I've been watching a lot of episodes. I just finished Voltron season 2 and Trollhunters season 3. I know this isn't much of an excuse, but I've been fangirling on overdrive lately.**

 **Anyway, I never thought I would get this far, chapter 20!**

 **Percy**

Everything was a daze. Every time Percy felt his head break the surface of confusion and numbness, a wave of murky thoughts would wash over him. One thing was for certain, a beautiful voice was telling him things, and he only wanted to listen.

This was one of the rare times when thoughts started to surface. Not earth shattering ones, but clear, untampered thoughts. A craving for cookies, something was special about them, and they made him ache for home. A face that he could almost see, striking grey eyes and blonde hair he loved to run his hands through.

A name was coming to him.

Annabeth.

A million memories came to him. Battles with her by his side. Sitting together in a stable, giving soft kisses at night. And the endless torture of Tartarus. Seeing her blindly looking for him.

"Annabeth!" He cried unable to contain himself. His girlfriend was out there, and he was stuck here. Where was here?

He looked around the murky water. More recent memories came back, how he got here, what was happening. And then Dawn. She could easily target his friends.

Percy thrashed and flailed, but chains were holding him to a mast. He inched his way up a few feet. Then he saw the glowing eyes.

The siren came into view. Dawn began to sing and Percy's limbs starting going weak, his mind numbing. He felt reality slip away, the warm oblivion her voice brought welcomed him.

Percy started to get some thoughts of his own. He was hungry. He should get some food. Why hadn't he eaten in so long? Was he on a quest? He was, yes, he was. To a wizarding school. Monsters were kidnapping students, he had to stop them. Wait, he got the students back. One was a monster in disguise.

That's why he was so hungry, he was being held captive!

He thrashed but found thick chains bound him. He couldn't cut through them, Wise girl would be able to get him out. Who was she?

Oh right, his girlfriend.

Think, he commanded himself. I have to get out. Before the siren comes back. What happened when she came back?

He was brainwashed again.

If memory served him, she would return soon. He had to come up with a plan, and fast.

Maybe he didn't have to cut the chains, but rather break the rotting wooden mast!

He drew Riptide and started slashing as best as he could with his limited movements. A pair of glowing eyes appeared in the distance, he had to hurry. He hit harder, faster.

"Do you want blood?" Came a melodious voice, Percy's movements slowed. "I see you have your sword. Would you like your friend's blood on your hands?"

Percy started to slip away again. He had to fight it! He had to, Dawn would make him attack his friends. He couldn't do that.

Her voice dragged him away. He was acutely aware of her loosening his chains, giving him instructions. He felt in his gut that he didn't like them, but why? He began to swim upwards, the sirens voice that promised peace was all that mattered. She made all the pain of emotions go away.

Percy came back again. This time dread was settled on his shoulders. Fractaled memories came to him from the last time he was under. He scaled a castle. Tried to kill a boy, he was important to him.

It was Jason!

And the clearest memory he had, the look of terror on his girlfriends face. How it took all his willpower to convince himself to leave, that he had to retreat or die. The siren wanted the best for him, living was well above dead.

It was weird, like he was fighting with himself. One side wanted to run his sword through every last one of them. Another knew he could never do it.

A thought of his previous escape plan came to him. He drew Riptide and started slashing the mast again. He kept watching and waiting for the glowing eyes of daze to come for him.

But they didn't.

After Percy striked to the middle, the old mast broke, splintering as it hit the lake floor. Mud flew up, Percy wiggled down the broken wood and pulled the chains off of himself.

He pulled the water around him into a swirling mass. Pressure built up and he went skyrocketing through the water, cutting it like it wasn't there. He broke the surface and willed the water to take him to shore.

He hit the ground and starting running, madly with no direction. He ran through the large door at the front of the school, he faintly registered the fact that it was late in the evening.

He took to the stairs and raced to the Gryffindor common room. He passed many shocked faces in the halls but dismissed them. He was free, and he had to warn the others.

He walked through the portrait and spotted Harry and Ron at a table playing chess. He ran over to them, they both looked very concerned, yet joyful.

"Percy, you're safe!" Cried Ron.

"Yeah, yeah for now," Percy replied. "We need to gather the others. But none of the kidnapped."

"Percy, what happened?" Harry asked.

"No time, do you know where they are?"

"I think the girls are in their dorm, the boys headed down to the courtyard," answered Ron.

"Okay, you two get the boys, I got the girls," commanded Percy. "Meet in Pantheon Hall."

Percy raced up the stairs to the girls dorm, when suddenly they turned to a slide. He slipped down and skidded to a halt in the common area and tried again, this time anticipating the change to slide.

He jumped up and put his feet and hands on the sides of the stairway. He scrambled forwards, putting his weight in his legs, pushing forward transferring the weight, and curling up. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

He came to the door and pulled it open. All the girls in the room turned and gasped. The half-bloods and Hermione and Ginny were inside. Percy didn't have time for this. He stormed over to Annabeth and grabbed her hand, she pulled back.

"Percy, what are you doing?" The voice was more beautiful than the siren's by a tenfold.

"We need to talk," he said grabbing her hands once more. "I finally got out."

Annabeth reeled back. "I don't believe you!"

By this time Hermione and Ginny had left leaving only the demigods in the room. Annabeth punched Percy in the gut. He pulled back, she went in for another, Percy blocked her fist.

"Annabeth, it's me," Percy said.

"Leave my boyfriend alone you puppet master!" Annabeth screamed, tears glistening in her eyes. "I won't fall for this again. You tried this yesterday."

Percy wrapped his arms around his girlfriend. She struggled, but he held her tight. He leaned in close to her ear.

"I'm not going to fight you Wise girl," he said softly. "What do I need to do to convince you I'm actually me again."

A muffled response was spoken into his chest. He pulled back and looked at Annabeth, her tears had left a wet spot on his shirt. She sniffled and repeated herself.

"Give me Riptide," she said.

Percy pulled the pen from his pocket and wrapped Annabeth's fingers around it. "Now can we go?" He asked.

Annabeth nodded. Piper and Hazel joined her, eyeing Percy suspiciously. They walked down the stairs, which didn't give out under their feet. Percy tried to wrap his arm around Annabeth, but she pushed him away.

Percy had never felt so alone in his life.


	21. Chapter 21: Halflings

**Holy Hades guys, over 20,000 views on Darkness Returns! Thank you all so much for your support!**

 **Also the first three chapters of my PJO/HoO Superhero AU, Alpha Heroes, have came out. If you would check that out I would greatly appreciate it.**

 **Thank you my readers! You all mean so much to me!**

 **Annabeth**

Annabeth lead the way to Pantheon Hall. She gripped Riptide in her fist, it was only a small comfort. If Percy, or whoever was controlling him, wanted to attack her, Percy would just have to knock Riptide out of her hand. It would reappear in Percy's pocket and she would be in trouble.

But of course, she still had a dagger on her.

Piper and Hazel kept glancing between Percy and Annabeth. Percy had tried to give her a hug, but she shrugged him off. Of course she wanted her seaweed brain back, but she just couldn't trust him right now.

Memories of yesterday flooded back. The way he came running, saying he escaped. How genuine it all felt. How his goofy, lopsided smile looked at her. His comforting hug, the warmth he flooded into her body. Just to see him after days, when the last time she'd seen him was when he had attacked Jason.

Then the way he went cold. His eyes lost their light, and Riptide was at her throat. She was so stunned, she couldn't forget it. Percy had seemed so real last time, this might be the same. And she couldn't be betrayed again.

Annabeth stopped at the stone wall and grabbed the ring. The group walked into Pantheon Hall, Frank, Leo, Jason, Harry and Ron stood around the fire. Annabeth headed over to them, Percy in her wake.

Percy addressed the group, his eyes shining in the firelight. "Obviously, I've escaped the siren." He thought for a moment. "I'm not sure how to sugarcoat this, so here it goes. Dawn is the siren that kidnapped me."

"How do we know the siren isn't controlling you?" Leo asked. "She could be getting us off her trail."

"I don't know how to prove it to you," Percy said. "But you just have to trust me, please."

The group exchanged a series of glances and mumbled words. Frank was the first to speak up.

"We trust you."

"You said Dawn was the siren," Annabeth said. "How could the Mist trick us for so long we didn't notice."

"I don't think it's a trick," Percy said. "I think the monsters are changing. The can take on mortal forms now, or at least what I'm going with."

"What if you're lying to us?" Annabeth pointed out. "Then we go and attack Dawn. She is affected by our weapons, she might just be a legacy that the siren wants us to kill off."

"I thought you said you trusted me," Percy retorted.

"There is a difference between trust and blind faith," Annabeth shot back.

"Okay, for arguments sake, let's say Dawn is a siren," Jason said. "That the monsters have evolved, what would be our next move?"

"We could try to get Dawn to reveal herself," Piper said. "Then if she really is the siren like Percy said, we'll deal with her then."

"She's not just going to reveal herself," Percy said. "We need to set a trap. I'll let her catch me by the lake. She'll transform and bring me to the bottom of the lake, then you guys attack her."

"If she really is a siren she can control us with her song," Annabeth pointed out. "She could be setting a trap to get all of us using Percy."

"Why don't you trust me!" Percy shouted. "What do I need to do to get through to you? Name your price."

Annabeth stared at Percy. She wanted to trust him, she really did, but if it was a trick, she refused to fall for it so easily. This could be the sirens trap, to get them all to either off a legacy of the sea god, or to catch them all at once.

But how could Percy prove it was really him? Yesterday he mentioned things that only Percy would know, so she had his memories. At the moment, Annabeth was death gripping Riptide so that was out. Basically now it was just if she had faith in his statements or not.

"Percy, if you can prove that Dawn is a siren, I'll believe you."

Percy smiled. "Then, how do we catch her in the act?"

"If she goes to you at night," Leo said. "Meet her at the edge of the water, well hide nearby and try to catch her."

"Percy will be very vulnerable to fall back under her control," Annabeth said.

"It's a chance I'm willing to take," Percy said. "Let's go."

The group trekked over to the lake. Annabeth could see Percy standing alone from behind a tree. After a few minutes, Dawn came walking up to him.

"How did you get away?" She asked.

"I'm smarter than you think," Percy said.

"You probably have all your friends in the bushes," Dawn said. "Please, come out, it's not a good hiding spot if I know you're there."

The group slowly emerged, Annabeth couldn't help but think of how she could easily take them with her song. How exposed they were.

"Oh come closer, no need to be afraid," Dawn said. They slowly got closer.

Dawn threw an arm around Percy. "Thank you my pet, you did your job perfectly."

"So you were tricking us!" Annabeth shouted.

Percy pulled Dawn's arm off himself and walked over to Annabeth. "I'm not under your control anymore."

Dawn laughed. "Maybe not, but you're so predictable I knew this would happen."

Dawn gave a long, high whistle. Shadowy figures emerged from the forest, monsters of every shape and form. Demigods drew any weapons they had, Annabeth tossed Percy Riptide, the wizards pulled out their wands.

Dawn dove into the water and transformed into a siren. Her skin scaly, her eyes glowed. Annabeth couldn't resist.

"How do you do that?"

"I may as well tell you," Dawn said. "I am what monsters are calling a halfling. A siren that has merged with a human, a wizard to be specific. We are now one."

"That's why the monsters were kidnapping students!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Oh you're a clever one," Dawn said. "A perfect disguise. In fact, I am not the only one in that school that is a halfling."

"But none of the other kidnapped students reacted with any of our weapons," Annabeth said.

"Who said they were kidnapped," the siren taunted. "In fact, I think some of the other halflings are here right now."

Dawn dipped under the water and all the monster charged at them. Annabeth told them to run back to the school, they couldn't beat this many. They ran across the yard in the darkness, deadly adversaries on their tail. They climbed the stairs and entered the school. The monsters lingered outside, eventually they left, and Dawn came up to the school. She strolled in without a care.

Leo lunged at her but Frank stopped him. "There is still a normal person in there."

"See, he gets it," Dawn said.

She vanished into the darkened halls. They waited until they heard the deafening sound of silence.

"So how do we know who else is a halfling at the school?" Percy asked.

"We keep a close eye on everyone around us," Annabeth said. "We can't trust anyone."

"Let's go to bed," Leo said. "We can not trust people in the morning."

The group wandered back to the Gryffindor common room. Annabeth got into bed and fell asleep after a few minutes despite the dizzying amount of thoughts that ran through her mind.

Dawn really was a siren, and there was nothing they could do about it.

Annabeth awoke to mid morning sun pouring into the dorm. She stretched and got dressed, the other girls were awake and probably in the common room. Annabeth headed down the stairs and saw them all talking by the fireplace.

"Look who's finally up," Percy said.

Annabeth walked over to her boyfriend and he wrapped an arm around her, placing a kiss on her head. "Can we go get food now, I'm starving."

They left for the Great Hall, a spread was laid out on the tables. Percy filled up his plate and ate it up in a matter of minutes. Annabeth ate a few pieces of toast with jam and an orange. She downed a glass of milk and spoke her thoughts.

"So, who do you think are the halflings?"

"We watched all the Gryffindors this morning," Jason reported. "No one acted suspicious at all. No one made an attempt to talk to us, and no seemed to act differently."

"I asked Ron and Harry, but they only came up with the entire Slytherin house," Piper added.

"So we have a bunch of dead ends," Annabeth summed up.

"Pretty much," Percy said.

"Hey guys," Ginny said, sitting down beside Harry. Hermione settled down next to Ron, her nose in a book.

"Hey," came a couple of voices.

"So you guys showed these two idiots a game from where you're from," Ginny said. "Do you think you could show us?"

Annabeth quickly came up with an excuse. "We would love to, but last time we played we lost our flags. Without them we can't play the game."

"Actually, I have them," Leo said, pulling two flags from his belt.

"Great, can you teach us. Please," Ginny pleaded.

"Sure," Annabeth said, glaring daggers at Leo.

The group finished their breakfast while the Greek campers explained the rules. Every so often Hermione would look up from her book to ask a question, or Ginny would ask for clarification. But for the most part, the girls caught on quickly.

The group headed outside and split into two teams. Annabeth's team was Percy, Piper, Leo, Ron and Ginny. Jason's team was Hazel, Frank, Harry and Hermione. They omitted the swords, instead using their wands to shoot sparks to ward off other players.

Annabeth took her team's flag and hid it in a tree. She stationed Ron and Leo nearby, but not too close. Piper was to be their scout, going back and forth between offence and defence. Annabeth, Ginny and Percy would lead the charge.

Annabeth got ready and ran once the signal went off. She bolted through the yard, Percy close behind. Everything else was closed off for now, she was playing capture the flag, she couldn't lose herself in her thoughts.

Just keep smiling and focused, everything would be okay. Everything would be okay.


	22. Chapter 22: Cyclops

**Ginny**

Ginny quickly grew fond of capture the flag. In the first round she had even won it for her team, well she wouldn't have had Percy and Annabeth not been fighting over who would take the flag. Ginny just strolled in and claimed the win. After a few more rounds they all decided to take a break.

They sat on the front steps to Hogwarts, catching their breath and laughing, mainly about the time Ron dashed right into a tree, allowing Harry to swipe the flag.

"What stupid game did the exchange students teach you Potter?" Came a voice from behind.

"Malfoy, mind your own business," Ginny replied.

"Is Potter so special he needs his girlfriend to answer for him?" Malfoy sneered back.

"Malfoy, can you just leave us alone," Harry said, not bothering to even look up.

Malfoy stalked off, his footsteps vanished into the castle. The group began to disband, leaving to work on assignments and catch up on class work. Just as Harry was about to leave, Ginny grabbed his wrist.

"Harry, I've barely seen you all year," Ginny said. "Do you think we could go do something, together for once?"

Harry grabbed Ginny's hands. "Just tell me where."

In a matter of minutes, Harry and Ginny were sitting under a tree at the edge of the forest. They were quiet, but Ginny felt happy to just lean on Harry's shoulder, to feel him being so close, lately he had been so distant.

"Ginny." She looked up. "I'm sorry for not being around as much. I swear I'll try to make more time for you."

"You don't need to clear your calendar for me," Ginny said. "Just talk to me, you seem like you're hiding something. Like every time something bad was going to happen at school, and you just vanished."

Harry looked away. "I'll try to be more open from now on."

Ginny smiled and looked around in the trees. The late autumn sun was streaming through leaves and painting everything with a thin layer of gold. The sound of chatter and laughter in the distance gave the aura of happiness and relaxation. Ginny could almost fall asleep.

"So what have you been up to?" Harry asked.

"Nothing much, classes, essays."

Harry nodded, he seemed kind of tired too, maybe a little stressed. Ginny could feel his tense muscles and the way his eyes kept scanning the forest. Ginny pulled herself up, brushing hair from her eyes.

"You okay? You seem nervous," she asked.

"I'm fine," Harry said, doubt in his voice.

Ginny knew he must be lying, but she didn't want to push him. If he really did want to be more open, he would tell her. Ginny leaned her back into the tree, Harry entwined his fingers with Ginny's. She closed her eyes and relaxed.

"Ginny?"

"Mhm," she mumbled back.

"If you knew that someone in the school was lying to you," Harry started. "What would you do?"

Ginny opened her eyes and considered the question for a moment. "Probably confront them about it."

Harry nodded. Ginny closed her eyes again, the chatter had gone away, most of the students were probably eating lunch. Ginny slipped away a bit, she only registered the warmth of Harry's hand, everything else felt unimportant in comparison.

Suddenly the warmth of Harry's hand left Ginny. She opened her eyes and saw a shadowy figure standing in the forest, Harry was on his feet. Ginny pushed herself up and drew her wand, the figure approached.

At first it looked like a student, but as it got closer, Ginny knew that wasn't what it was. It was at least eight feet tall, with a single eye in the centre of its face. It carried a club that bounced along behind him.

Ginny's mouth went dry, what the heck was that? A cyclops came to mind. She quickly thought of a spell to use against the giant.

"Incarcerous!"

Thin ropes spang from the tip of Ginny's wand, they wrapped around the cyclops, but broke easily as it took another step. Ginny cast the spell again, but the giant was undeterred. Harry took a step forward and pulled a dagger from a pocket.

"Harry! Where did you get that? Put it down before you hurt yourself!" Ginny shouted.

"It's the only thing that will work against that thing," Harry said.

"How do you know?"

"I'll tell you the whole thing later," Harry said. "Just don't let that thing hit you."

Ginny wanted to give a snappy comeback about how she would never let that happen when Harry rushed forward with his dagger. The cyclops swung his club and Harry jumped out of the way. Harry jabbed, but missed, the club came down again, missing him by inches.

Ginny needed to help Harry, she had no idea how, but she had to try. She ran forward and the cyclops tried to hit her. Ginny jumped to the side and the club smacked the ground. Dirt flew as the club came up, a creator was left in the ground.

The club came down again, Ginny rolled away, smacking into a tree, she briefly sympathized with Ron. Ginny spotted a glint of gold as Harry's dagger took an arc and hit the cyclops' arm. The giant returned it's attention to Harry, he quickly dodged a hit from the club, but not from the giant's arm.

Harry went flying into a tree. The dagger dropped from his hand and the cyclops went for the killing blow. Ginny ran forward and grabbed the dagger. Having no idea how to use a blade, she just jabbed back at the monster.

The dagger hit the giant's thigh. It swung its oversized hand at Ginny and she leapt out of the way. She came in for another strike, but the club hit her first. She felt the wind get knocked from her lungs and was thrown back a few feet by inhuman strength. She hit the ground hard, the dagger a foot away from her.

Harry got up shakily and rushed at the dagger. He tumbled, grabbed the dagger, and attempted to get up. After every breath he winced. His ribs would definitely be bruised, if not broken.

He took a stab at the monster and Ginny rose to her feet. Harry jumped out of the way and called to Ginny. She turned just in time to see a dagger in a huge arc coming towards her. She reached out and grabbed the dagger, nicking her finger on the blade. She stabbed the monster from behind, she had to jump to get a good hit.

When she landed something she was definitely not expecting happened, the monster exploded into golden dust. It showered over her and she brushed it off quickly. Gross.

"You were awesome Ginny!" Harry called, hobbling over to her. His hand was on his chest.

"You owe me an explanation," Ginny replied, wrapping Harry's free arm around her shoulders.

Ginny helped walk Harry back to the castle grounds. They picked a secluded spot to sit, Ginny's chest still hurt and she was sure Harry was in worse condition. Ginny leaned Harry up against a tree and faced him, waiting for a reason why everything was going crazy all of a sudden.

Harry took a deep breath, winced, and explained. It came like a waterfall, one thing after the other. The kidnapped students, the exchange students, gods, monsters, battles, and finally halflings. Ginny sat down and took sometime to process.

"Who all knows?" She asked.

"The exchange students, demigods actually, me, Ron, Neville, Rose, Ava and Felix, they're kidnapped students, Dawn but she's a halfling, and now you."

"Can I tell Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Probably," Harry said. "I'd run it by Annabeth first though."

Ginny nodded, the effort hurt her neck, apparently she hurt that too. It was all so much. And Harry was now wrapped up in this, first Voldemort, now monsters out for a war. Halflings in the school, only one of which they knew. She felt like her brain was going to explode. She grew up in a family of wizards, magic was common for her. She never had to learn there was a whole hidden world, this was all so new.

"We should get you some medical attention," Ginny said, she stood and her whole body protested. "Maybe me too."

Ginny helped Harry up, with some major difficulties. "What do we tell Madame Pomfrey?" She asked.

"We say we were practicing quidditch and crashed," Harry said.

"But we're both good, will they believe us?" Ginny asked.

"They have to."

The pair hobbled up the steps and into the school before someone noticed they were hurt. Within minutes they were getting treated by Madame Pomfrey, she believed the quidditch story, with only a bit of disbelief. In the end they were recovering, Ron came into the room.

"Jeez, I leave you two for five minutes and you nearly kill yourselves, I thought you were better flyers than this."

Harry waited a moment before speaking. No one was within hearing range. "Cyclops. Ginny knows, I caught her up."

"Oh, that makes more sense."

"Anyway, do you think we should tell Hermione?" Harry asked.

"We probably can, she could be a big help," Ron said.

"With what?"

Ron whipped around and Ginny could see Hermione not five feet away. They all shared a glance. Ginny was the one to speak.

"After Harry and I are released, we'll talk."


	23. Chapter 23: Training

**Exams are done, school is out! I would love to say this means I could update more frequently, but I do have responsibilities over the summer.**

 **I have a few huge things coming up in the story, brace yourselves. Because of this I might make random updates just because I really want to share what is going down, I really like the way this is headed. I realize now how it feels to be an author and get to torment with people by using imaginary characters.**

 **But I swear that is not why plot twists are coming! I am really excited about what is going to happen, try to guess if you can!**

 **Also this is for all the people who want me to save Dawn, don't worry, her fate has been decided for a while. I will tell you only one thing, she gets a fair destiny.**

 **Now enjoy!**

 **Harry**

Harry sat across from Hermione, Ginny and Ron flanked him. He took a deep breath and explained everything. And he meant everything. They probably sat for an hour, just discussing the demigods and their secrets, which had rapidly become wizard secrets.

"That's why they had the daggers," Hermione said, though no one else knew what she meant, and she didn't elaborate.

Eventually the sun dipped below the horizon and the group headed to the great hall. They ate dinner for only a few minutes when the entire group of demigods showed up and sat down. Harry leaned over and spoke to Annabeth.

"We told Hermione and Ginny," he said.

"Everything?" She asked.

"Everything."

"Bring them down to Pantheon Hall after dinner," she said.

After a while the demigods left. Harry and Ron crammed more food in before leading Hermione and Ginny to Pantheon Hall. They reached the dungeons and came up to the wall with the ring. Harry pulled hard, but no door opened.

He stepped away and Ron gave it a try, nothing. Hermione gave it a tug to no avail. Harry considered knocking, but the stone was so thick they probably couldn't even hear it.

Ginny walked up and gave it a pull, she reeled back, clutching the hand she touched it with. Burn marks matched the ring, but it appeared to be cold, not hot. No one else wanted to give it a try.

"You okay, Ginny?" Harry asked.

"I guess it only lets you have so many tries," she said. "I'll be fine, it just burns."

Harry touched the marks, they were warm and Ginny gritted her teeth as he examined them. Harry walked up to the wall and gave it a hard knock, his fist hurt upon impact and the stone seemed to eat the sound.

"So are we just going to wait here?" Ron asked.

"We don't have another choice," Harry replied, leaning against an opposing wall.

After a few moments the door slipped away and Leo appeared. "Hey guys, how long have you been waiting?"

"Only a couple of minutes," Harry said.

Leo lead the way into Pantheon Hall, the demigods, plus the kidnapped, minus Dawn, waited around a roaring fire. Harry watched Hermione gaze around the room, eyes full of curiosity. Ginny stumbled around a bit, disoriented. She came over to Harry and gripped his hand, getting her bearings back. Harry was about to ask about it when Annabeth started talking.

"Since you've all been dragged into a war," she began. "We need to train you to protect yourselves. Your magic doesn't work well on those with godly blood, so you'll need to learn to use a blade. Everyone get a partner, we start now."

Harry and Ron teamed up quickly, Ginny released Harry's hand, having lost her short dizzy spell. The demigods passed out weapons, Harry and Ron were both given daggers to start.

Percy strode up to them, his sword held casually in his hand. "Okay, let's see what we're working with."

Percy swung his sword out quickly, Harry jumped out of the way, but Ron was not so quick. The blade passed through him harmlessly, but he was still shook from the real danger.

"Monsters don't carry swords," Percy said. "Learn to dodge and you'll never have to use your daggers."

Percy swung his sword in a large arc and Harry heard it whizz by his ear. He jumped to the side, but Percy was a step ahead. The sword came at his hand and Harry dropped his dagger. Ron held his defensively and blocked a blow from Percy. He dropped his dagger after a moment though.

"Unfortunately, halflings will probably carry weapons," Percy said. "Let's actually get working now."

Percy instructed them on a bunch of techniques and swordplay tactics, it was all just a blur to Harry. He couldn't help but notice Percy was easily the hardest teacher, to other groups had started with the basics and sparred with each other. Harry and Ron could've easily been killed had the weapons actually worked on them.

Harry watched the other wizards intently. Ava fumbled with her dagger nervously, Felix moved oddly with the small blade, after a few minutes he was given a sword and seemed to be a bit more comfortable. Hermione understood the strategy behind it all and was good at finding weak spots, Ginny was quick on her feet and easily dodged attacks. Neville had surprising power in his dagger and was switched to a broadsword. Rose was oddly enough a natural, she could use a sword just as good as a dagger. She moved nimbly with agile grace, it was odd to see such a young girl as intimidating as she was.

"Harry!" Harry snapped his head back to Percy. "Could you at least try to pay attention, I'm trying to save your life here."

"Sorry," he mumbled. Percy went back to his instruction and showed them how to use the daggers.

The night drew on, Harry's eyes had trouble focusing, his mind was becoming slush. Before he knew it the demigods were pitting the wizards against each other in one on one battles. All seven of them would critic the participants with their stance, attacks, and defence. Before Harry knew it he was standing five feet from Ginny, waiting for the signal to go.

His body moved sluggishly with fatigue, but Ginny attacked quickly. She stormed him and he tried to dodge, she stabbed the dagger through his arm, which didn't hurt since the weapons didn't work on him, but it spiked his energy a little.

"Move!"

"Block!"

"Behind you!"

"Watch the target!"

"Ginny, find an opening!"

The demigods were shouting instructions that made Harry's mind even more confused. Before he knew it, he was knocked to the ground, a dagger at his throat. Ginny let him go and he went to the sidelines. He slumped on the ground next to Ron.

"She crushed you mate."

"I can't even think straight, let alone fight," Harry said. He let out a yawn. "What time is it?"

"Just past one," Hermione said, watching the fight between Neville and Felix like a hawk.

The two swords clashed which should have woken Harry up, but everything just felt distant. His eyelids drooped, his mind went fuzzy. Before he knew it, he was asleep.

Harry woke up to Ron shaking his shoulder, Harry groggily looked around. The fights had ended, and most people had cleared out. Harry pulled himself up and wordlessly walked back to Gryffindor tower with the remaining people.

Harry didn't realize he wasn't walking in a straight line until he slammed into a wall, he kept trying to wake himself up, but he was just plain exhausted. He spent the travel in a blur, until he hit his pillow and took off his glasses. He didn't bother to change out of his clothes, he just passed out.

The night felt like only a few minutes long, Harry awoke to the sun and people around him getting ready for classes. He felt more alert, but tiredness still lingered. He changed his clothes and marched to the common room. He saw Ron and walked over to him, they headed off to the Great Hall for breakfast.

Harry downed two glasses of orange juice, ate a considerable stack of pancakes, and at least a dozen pieces of bacon. Hermione arrived, her nose stuck in a book. She reached out, grabbed a random fruit, and took a bite.

"Good morning," Ron said. "What's so interesting?"

"I found a book on Greek monsters," Hermione explained. "I figure if we know what we're up against, we'll have a better chance at succeeding."

"But the demigods know all about the monsters," Ron said.

"I'm not going to spend all day quizzing them about it," Hermione said, flipping a page. "This is much faster."

Ron gave up the discussion. Ginny walked into the Great Hall and joined them. Her hair was messy, and purple bags were under her eyes. She slumped down next to Harry and laid her head on his shoulder.

"What happened to you?" He asked.

She yawned. "I couldn't sleep," she murmured. "After all the info I took in yesterday, it haunted my sleep. Monsters were everywhere, a huge one wearing a crown sat on a throne of dark stone. He yelled at me, threatened me. Everytime I would jolt awake, then slip into a restless sleep again, just to encounter the same fate."

"Jeez," Harry said.

Ginny ate some toast and washed it down with a glass of milk. After about ten minutes the group headed up to defence against the dark arts. Harry walked in and saw the wall of Greek and Roman weaponry and last night came back to him in a blur. He sat down with Ron, Ginny and Hermione, who was still reading.

The class slowly filled, Goldbane started his lesson, Harry paid half-attention. Hermione jotted down notes about the lesson, the book was still open, every few minutes she would ignore the lesson and read a page. Near the end of the class Goldbane allowed the students free time to catch up on other subjects. Annabeth came over to their table.

"Tonight, same place, same time. We have a guest, you guys might be useful."

"Who is it?" Harry asked.

"Dawn."


	24. Chapter 24: The Interrogation

**A random update because I was bored today.**

 **Ginny**

Ginny had trouble staying awake in class. She considered taking a quick nap, but the crowned monster kept coming to mind, his paralyzingly eyes, menacing teeth, and threatening voice.

She struggled through the day, but made it. Once classes ended she stumbled up to her bed and passed out. No scary dreams came to her, she woke up after a few hours and saw Hermione sitting at the end of her bed, nose in a book.

"What time is it?" Ginny asked.

"Almost seven, we should probably get dinner," Hermione said, closing her book.

Hermione placed the book in her trunk and joined Ginny for dinner. Most students had already finished eating, so the Great Hall was mostly deserted. Ginny ate her food quickly, since she was so tired all day, she barely ate. Some time passed, Harry and Ron showed up and sat down with them.

"We're supposed to head to the dungeons, the demigods are going to bring Dawn," Harry said.

"She's the halfling right?" Hermione said.

"Yeah, I'm not sure how they're going to get her, but I imagine we'll only have a short time to talk to her," Harry said. "So we need to go."

The group left, picking up Neville, Felix, Ava and Rose along the way. They got to the wall with the ring, Ginny refused to touch it. She ran her fingers over the marks on her hand, she wasn't chancing it.

Footsteps came, the wizards waited for them to come closer. A blonde head rounded the corner, it was Annabeth, and she was alone. She didn't say a word, she just opened the door and walked in. Everyone followed, not wanting to ask questions.

Ginny walked in a felt her balance shift, she stumbled and crashed into Ron. He helped her up and she shuffled to the fire. It was lower than usual with only one demigod in the room.

"Okay, here's our plan to cause the least amount of trouble," Annabeth said. "Nico is outside with a few other half-bloods. He's going to shadow travel to Dawn, then head back outside. The others will take her here along with Nico. Harry, did you bring the truth serum?"

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. It was filled with a few chocolate cauldrons with a clear liquid inside. Annabeth grabbed the box and inspected them. Satisfied she shut the lid and waited.

Moments passed, no one was arriving. Ginny hoped that they had surprised Dawn and that she wouldn't fight back. After a few minutes the door slid open.

Percy and Jason restrained Dawn, she thrashed and kicked, but once she crossed the threshold she went limp. Percy looked shocked, Jason had to hold her tighter since Percy almost dropped her.

They dragged her to the fire and set her down. Leo pulled rope from his belt and tied her hands and feet. He checked her for weapons but found none, he stepped away and waited.

Ava was the first to make a move. She walked up to Dawn and tilted her head up. She spoke to her, asking if she was okay. Dawn mumbled a few unintelligible words. She tried to open her eyes, but closed them the second she focused on something.

"I need to help her," Ava said. She reached for the rope around Dawn's ankles, Leo pulled her away.

"No, she could be playing us."

"But look at her, this place is hurting her!" Ava shot back, her usual weak exterior was crumbling to show a passion, Ginny felt like she saw a whole new Ava.

"We can't trust her, she kidnapped Percy," Leo said.

Ava ripped herself away from Leo and dove for Dawn. She pulled out her dagger and sliced the ankle rope with shaking hands. Leo grabbed Ava and pulled her away, Dawn muttered something.

"We need to help her!" Ava shouted.

"Do you think she could be under the siren's song?" Harry asked.

"Ava, stop!" Piper shouted. Ava froze, Leo ripped her dagger from her fingers and kicked it away.

"Ava relax, Dawn is fine," Piper said. Ava went slack in Leo's arms. He set her down on the ground and she remained still.

Dawn stood up, but fell back on the ground within seconds, she bashed her head on the stone, Ava shook off her daze and went to help her. Ava untied the rope around her wrists and helped Dawn to her feet, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Dawn stumbled as Ava lead her to the door.

"Ava, stop!" Piper commanded. Ava froze in place.

"Look at her," Ava said. "She's not a threat, let me get her out of here. I won't let her escape, I promise. Please."

"Fine, but we come with," Annabeth said.

Ava and Dawn headed for the door and the group followed. Once they got out of the hall, Dawn regained her balance, but still leaned on Ava for support. Everyone surrounded then, their group was large and took up the entire tunnel, Dawn watched everyone, defeat in her eyes.

"Ava, let go of her now, we let you help her, let her go," Annabeth said.

Ava tried to take Dawn's arm off her shoulders, but it stayed there. "Let her stay," Dawn said. "I won't hurt her."

"What do you want with her? Are you going to turn her too?" Harry asked.

"No," Dawn said. "I'm still a little dizzy. That room, it shields out monsters. I felt my mind breaking down."

"If we put her back in, maybe the siren will separate from her," Percy suggested.

"No, my siren side would perish, but it would kill the mortal side as well," Dawn said. "You can only get rid of me when Dawn is in control. Which will never happen."

Dawn took her arm off of Ava and straightened herself. Ava stepped away, slipping into the crowd, back to her nervous self. Harry stepped forward, a chocolate cauldron in his hand. He handed it to Dawn, but Ginny saw another in his other hand.

"What is this?" Dawn asked.

"A peace offering," Harry lied.

"I'm not that stupid, you put something in this, maybe-"

She was cut off as Harry jammed the other cauldron in her mouth. Dawn spit most of it out, but some truth serum definitely got in. Harry back away.

"Feel any different?" Harry asked.

"No, did you try to poison me?" Dawn glanced around at everyone, worry in her blue eyes.

"Truth serum," Harry said.

Dawn put her hands over her mouth, Percy came up from behind and pulled them away. He tied her wrists and forced her to her knees. Annabeth came in front of Dawn and knelt.

"If you give us the information we want, we promise not to hurt you," she said.

"How can I trust you?" Dawn said.

"Harry, pass me a chocolate."

"Annabeth, I don't think this is a good idea-" Harry was cut off with a glare from Annabeth. He pulled out a chocolate and handed it to Annabeth. She popped it in her mouth and turned back to Dawn.

"Level playing field, my offer still stands."

"Fine," Dawn mumbled.

"How did you merge with Dawn?" Annabeth asked.

"It happened before Dawn was kidnapped, over the summer," she started. "I spotted her and took an interest. I tailed her for a week while she was on vacation at the coast. The King allowed us to merge when I notified him. I came to her room in the night, The King was there. He cast the binding spell and I gave up my body. I was dormant until she was kidnapped, then I took control."

"Were you going to turn the other kidnapped students into halflings?" Annabeth asked.

"Possibly, it was undecided," Dawn said. "Some were going to be halflings, others would be used as an energy source for more transformations."

"Who are the other halflings?"

Dawn bit her lip. She opened her mouth then snapped it shut. "No!"

She slammed her head into the stone floor. Her body went limp, Annabeth checked for a pulse. Ginny thought that was a bit over the top, but it was effective. Annabeth gave a thumbs up when she found a heartbeat.

"She really didn't want to tell," Percy said.

"How long does this truth serum last?" Annabeth asked.

"It should wear off by tomorrow morning," Hermione said.

"Good."

Nico shadow travelled Dawn back to her room and the group disbanded. Ginny walked up the the large group of Gryffindors. She fell in line with Hermione.

"Did you get anything out of that?" Ginny asked.

"The King is obviously the one orchestrating the halfling transformations, he is probably a monster that can use wizards' powers," Hermione said. "The secret of the other halflings is Dawn's most guarded secret since she went to drastic measures to keep it safe. So, the halflings are probably her secret weapon. Meaning they could be powerful, gaining information, or infiltrating our group. Not meaning one of us is a halfling, but we should be careful of anyone new."

Ginny nodded. "Could some of the other kidnapped be halflings, she did say she was dormant for a while, only taking control recently. Maybe one of the other kidnapped students have a passive halfling bonded to them."

"Possibly."

The group came into Gryffindor common room, it was deserted. Ginny headed right up to her dorm and put on pajamas. Her head hit the pillow and she passed out, people were still milling around and making noise, but Ginny was behind on sleep. She hoped the nightmares wouldn't come back. She needed a good night's sleep.


	25. Chapter 25: The Dragon’s Tail Inn

**Nico**

Nico wandered the dark streets. He didn't really know where he was or where he was going, but he needed something to do, a distraction of sorts.

He had shadow travelled a few blocks away just after the interrogation with the halfling, and now he needed to do something, anything.

He had spoken to Will before the interrogation, and before that Chiron. He had explored every square inch of this town, and nothing exciting happened here. At first that had been a blessing, but now Nico was getting bored. A wizarding town should be interesting, but the locals did nothing but work, eat, and sleep. Nico heard a commotion not too far away.

Two men were yelling at each other down the street, one was wearing dark robes, the other had a pointy hat atop his head.

"This is the last straw!" Shouted the pointy hatted man. "I give you a room for free, food for free, clothes for free! How do you repay me? By letting my inn get destroyed when I leave you alone for five minutes!"

"Sean," the dark one said. "I told you, I did everything I could, the man, he was immune to magic. Please brother, let me stay, just another night."

"No!" Sean shouted. "You claim ridiculous things, I will not allow a liar to stay at my inn. Get out of my sight."

The dark man turned away and walked down the street until he faded into the night. Nico fingered the pile of sickles and galleons in his pocket, he could stay at that inn for the night, see what he could discover. Only godly things were immune to magic.

Nico waited for Sean to go back inside before he headed in. A sign outside read The Dragon's Tail Inn. Sean was standing behind the bar, a plump man was chugging an alcoholic drink between exchanges with a grey haired woman.

The bartender or the customers hadn't noticed young boy waiting at the door. Nico walked up and hoisted himself up onto a barstool. It creaked under his weight.

"What can I get you?" Sean asked. "You're a little young to drink."

Nico really wanted to say he was actually elderly, but he didn't. "Just a room please."

"Five galleons a night," Sean said.

Nico pulled out the money and passed across the wooden bar. The man accepted the money and handed Nico a key with a tag attached. Room 17.

"Thank you," Nico said pocketing the key.

"What brings a young man like you here, alone?" The plump man asked.

"None of your business," Nico said. He glanced at the menu posted behind the bar. "Can I get an order of fries?"

"Coming right up." Sean disappeared into a back kitchen and returned a minute later with a plate of greasy fries.

Nico slid over the three sickle payment and put some of the homemade fries in his mouth. They weren't exactly crispy or flavoured, but they were hot food, so Nico didn't complain.

Nico looked around the small room and took in everything. Tables were turned, chairs were broken, picture frames shattered. Vases that held flowers were broken on the floor, but swept into one corner to prevent people from stepping on sharp glass.

"We got attacked and my stupid brother did nothing about it," Sean said. "Probably some recent Hogwarts graduates that wanted to have some fun. Say, shouldn't you be at that school, or any school for that matter?"

"Homeschooled, my parents don't trust those teachers." That was the lie Nico had been using. "The kitchen at my house burnt down, so I'm staying at inns while my parents fix the damages."

Sean nodded and passed another large glass to the man down the bar. "Too many students and teachers die at that school, anyone who sends their child there is crazy."

Nico finished off his fries and Sean took away his plate. He had just stood up to head to his room, when a man with a gold pendant around his neck walked in. He was bulky and wore dark robes, his eyes caught Nico's.

Nico continued to his room, footsteps were following him. He sped up, so did the person following him. He heard Sean shouting at the person.

"Hey, no room, no going back there!"

Nico heard a whooshing sound and came in front of his room. He jammed the key into the door and ran inside. He slammed the door behind him and began to relax. The doorknob twisted and Nico jumped back.

His hand went to his sword strapped around his waist, to the wizards it probably just blended into his pants. The door opened and the man walked in, he took a few steps forwards, he pushed his hand and the door slammed shut.

"Who knew I'd run into a demigod tonight?" He said.

Nico drew his sword.

"Stygian iron," the man mused. "I knew you were a child of the big three. How proud The King will be when I bring him a child of Hades."

The man's appearance changed, his eyes crackled with electricity, his face became younger, his body thinner and lankier, smokey wings appeared on his back.

"You're a halfling, a storm spirit," Nico said watching the hovering monster.

The storm spirit swung his arm and Nico was blasted back. The wind knocked down items in the room and ruffled the sheets on the bed. Nico jumped up and narrowly dodged a lighting bolt.

If Nico ever fought Jason, he figured it would be just like this.

Nico charged the storm spirit but his sword ran right through it. Right, you can't fight a storm spirit with a weapon.

The storm spirit came around behind Nico, he whirled around to meet the threat, but instead he got zapped. The lightning coursed through his body, he could feel it exit through his feet. Another came, and another. He was flung across the room by a gust of wind and smashed into a wall.

Sean came barreling into the room and fired a spell at the storm spirit, it did nothing. Sean backed up mumbling that his brother was right, and dashed out of the room screaming.

Nico felt himself be lifted off of the ground and carried out the window. With what little consciousness he had, he jammed his sword back at his waist, and attempted to shadow travel away. But he was in the sky, weak and injured, and losing consciousness. He slipped away within seconds.

Nico woke up abruptly, he was lying down in a cage. He moved to push himself up, but his wrists and ankles were tied with gold chains. He pulled against them, a voice came from nearby.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," it purred. "I control your fate, be lucky I want you alive."

"Let me go!" Nico growled.

Fingers snapped and Nico's wrists and ankles were punctured. He let out a scream and the spikes retracted. Blood poured from the many small wounds.

An empousa came into view. Her fiery hair danced, and her bronze leg was exposed through a slit in her dress. She looked younger than most empousas Nico had seen, this one had soft cheeks and cheery eyes.

"See, now behave like a good little boy," she said. "You'll be transformed soon enough anyway."

"You can't make me one of you!" Nico shouted, pulling at his shackles.

"Of course we can, we just need a wizard and The King," the empousa said and walked towards the cage. "Since we already have wizard halflings, we just have to wait for his highness to have the ceremony. I think you'll be fused with a lycanthrope, you'd make a fierce wolf Nico."

Nico shifted and pulled at his bindings, they had no give. He thought about using his sword, but saw it lying outside the cage near the empousa. He stopped struggling, maybe he could call some undead to help him? But he felt weak, so weak the thought made him tired.

"What did you do to me?" Nico asked.

"We tried to put you under our control until the transformation," the empousa said. "But you possess a very strong will. Even with the curse and the coin, you remain in control. That's much more than I can say for my other half, she was under with just a curse."

"You're a halfling?"

"Yup," the empousa said. "It's not as bad as you think. But for someone like you with such a strong will, I pity the monster that fuses with you. You couldn't get me to do it, but a strong werewolf would be happy to break you."

The empousa started laughing, it was almost human but not quite. Nico wanted to cover his ears, but his hands were cuffed. She calmed down and caught her breath before vanishing into the dark again.

"Hey, halfling," Nico said. He wasn't sure if she'd heard him, but continued speaking anyway. "Where are we?"

"At the base camp," she said, her voice seeming to come from nowhere. "It's our largest operation, but I won't give you more details than that."

"You're very open for a monster."

"You're not so resentful for a half-blood."


	26. Chapter 26: The Lycanthrope

**Hey guys, sorry for the late upload. I was busy and did some poor planning, but here it is!**

 **Also, I'm sorry I have to do this but I won't be able to upload next week. I'll be going camping for a week away from wifi. I promise I'll update the week after on time!**

 **Nico**

When the sun started to rise the next morning the empousa watching him left. Nico watched her fiery hair vanish into what was left of the darkness, he waited for a beat. He heard nothing.

He took a moment to position himself then pushed his body into a sitting position, his one arm was numb from lying on it all night. He inched over to a wall and leaned his back against one of the bars.

He peered under the shackles on his wrists, he hadn't been stabbed since the first time, the blood had dried and the holes were going to end up scars, but he could be in worse condition.

"Good morning demigod," sneered a voice from behind. "How was your night?"

Nico stayed silent.

"Strong silent type," the voice said. He moved around so he could face Nico through the bars.

It was a werewolf with grey fur, yellow eyes, and a toothy snarl. Nico met his eyes and glared at him, the monster challenged his gaze.

"You're a strong one," he said. "What have you been through in your life? What has crushed your soul to pieces? What keeps you up at night?"

The werewolf watched Nico with piercing eyes. "You'll be a fun challenge."

The werewolf opened the cage door and walked in. He slammed it shut behind him, the lock clicking. He sat down and leaned on the wall opposite Nico.

"I'm the one who volunteered to give up my body to join you," the werewolf said. "I figured we should meet."

Nico looked down at his shackles. "What's your name?" The monster asked.

Nico stayed silent, he wasn't going to talk to this demon that would turn him into a monster. Pain shot through his wrists and ankles as the spikes pieced his skin and reopened his wounds.

"Answer me when I speak to you!" The werewolf shouted. "What's your name!"

Nico watched the blood soak his pants and pool in his shoes. His skin burned, tears attempted to cloud his vision, and if he tilted at all, the spikes dug deeper.

"Nico," he finally said.

The spikes retracted and the pain lessened. "There, not so hard," the werewolf said. "I saw your sword, stygian iron. Son of Hades?"

"Yes."

"You're Nico aren't you," the werewolf said. "I've heard stories about you, you are respectable for demigod scum. But considering all your achievements have hurt our forces and helped those gastly gods up on Mount Olympus, I'll consider them crimes."

The werewolf stood. "I've seen enough, the ceremony is at midnight, see you then."

The werewolf left the cage and locked the door behind him. No one came to watch Nico, but he knew that didn't matter. He was pretty trapped. Plus, there was probably some monster watching him from under the cover of trees, waiting for a reason to sink spikes into his flesh.

Nico examined his shackles, they were tied together with a piece of chain, then that piece was fixed to the floor. If he somehow cut the chain, he would get more mobility to undo his ankles and wrists. But, he would only be able to do it if he got something sharp and strong.

Nico sighed, it was useless. He was trapped. He'd survived many worse things, and he imagined he'd overpower the werewolf he would be bonded to. He was alone in Tartarus, he knew a thing or two about willpower and fighting a losing battle.

Once he became a halfling, they would probably let him go, considering they would be able to control him. In theory at least.

Nico let his eyes shut, last night hadn't exactly been restful, he maybe got two hours of solid sleep. He felt himself begin to drift off, he had a whole day to waste, and he would need energy for his escape.

He slipped away, feeling a dream coming on...

Nico was sitting in a chair, opposite a person cloaked in shadows, the only light source was a single light bulb above them. A table was before them, a single dagger sat between them. The blade pointed away from both of them, leaving the hilt easy to grab for either person.

"I did not expect you so soon," the person said, her voice confident, relaxed almost. "Nico di Angelo, we have lots of time and I'm in no rush, relax a little."

Nico stayed perfectly unrelaxed, preferring to be ready to reach for the dagger or dodge when it would stab and slash at him.

"Fine, be stubborn," she said.

She leaned forward, exposing her face to the light. Her blue eyes glowed menacingly, she wore a blue tie around her neck. The siren halfling grinned.

"Remember me?" She asked.

"How could I forget," Nico muttered.

"I like making a lasting impression." The siren leaned back into the darkness.

"Help…" Whimpered a voice in the dark.

Nico glanced around but saw no one.

"Please…" The voice said, full of sadness and only a sliver of hope. "You're not a demon...help me…"

Nico stood up sending his chair back a foot. The siren snickered.

"Please…"

Nico followed the sound of the voice into the darkness. It kept getting louder, until eventually he could hear it clearly. He saw the dark outline of a person and dropped down to their eye level.

A scared girl was chained to a wall, her cheeks were tear stained, her eyes red and puffy. She looked down at the ground, not daring to make eye contact.

"Who are you?" Nico asked.

"Dawn Daniels," she whispered. "Please free me...please."

Nico reached for her chains, but a hand clamped around his wrist. A dagger was at his throat within seconds.

"This will be your fate when the wolf is through with you," the siren said. "Scared, alone, helpless, hopeless. Lost in the subconscious."

Nico pushed the dagger away with his free hand and melted into the endless shadows around him. He wasn't going to travel anywhere in this dreamworld, he was going to wake up and make sure he didn't end up like Dawn. No one should.

Nico woke up and looked around. A few hours had probably passed, time in dreams is so hard to measure. Nico tilted his head and his neck cracked, too long in one painful position.

"Look who's awake."

Nico turned to see the young empousa sitting outside the cage.

"What time is it?" Nico asked, noticing how dark the woods were.

"About ten thirty, you've been out cold most of the day, another halfling said she wanted to speak with you. How'd it go?"

"Could've been worse."

"It always can be with halflings," she said. "I hear your ceremony is at midnight. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt the human half, only the monsters who need to shed their physical form."

"Who's the wizard going to be?" Nico asked.

"Oh I don't know," the emporia said. "I know a couple halflings that could be it, lucky for you Dawn has other matters to attend to tonight, or she'd probably be doing it for you."

Nico pondered something for a moment. "If you know a lot of halflings, do you know the ones stationed at Hogwarts?"

"Of course," she said happily. "But I'd rather die than tell you."

She said it so cheerfully it made Nico unsettled. She was so nice and honest it made him keep forgetting the fact that she was a monster that wanted to destroy and kill.

"Only a little longer, the ceremony will be here before you know it," she said it like she was telling someone Christmas was soon on December first.

Nicos stomach grumbled, when was the last time he'd eaten? Those greasy fries last night? Was it last night? How long was he out before that? Who knew, certainly not Nico.

"Can I get some food?" Nico asked.

"Sure."

The empousa jumped up and walked away. She returned in about ten minutes with an assortment of foods. She unlocked the cage and handed it to Nico before resuming her previous position.

Nico munched a piece of bread with butter. Where did she find this? He bit into an apple that sprayed juice on his face. He wiped it off with the back of his hand resumed eating. This was a pretty pathetic last meal.

Sure he wasn't actually dying, but it kind of felt like it. From here on out he would be half werewolf, he might lose control of his body and end up like Dawn. Or he might chain the werewolf up and be in complete control. Either way he was going to be different.

Nico swallowed a bite of apple and it felt like sandpaper. "Hey, halfling."

The empousa perked up.

"Who's The King?"

"A powerful monster, no one's really sure about anything else," she explained. "He can harness the wizards' power and use it himself, he controls the army and all halflings. He's really shrouded in mystery."

Nico nodded pushing his plate aside. That didn't really help, if he could find out who The King was, it might help the half-bloods find some weaknesses and motives.

"Are all halflings like Dawn?" Nico finally asked.

The empousa laughed her not-quite-human laugh. "Of course not. Most are, but some that are kinder, like me, live our lives and let our other halves live theirs. My half thinks she's sleeping right now, sometimes her subconscious will see me, but mostly she stays out of my life, and I stay out of hers. And if you think for a second the werewolf will give you the same courtesy, you're sadly mistaken."


	27. Chapter 27: The Transformation

**Oh. My. Gods.**

 **Guys, Darkness Returns has gotten over 30,000 views! I still can't believe it has gotten that high.**

 **I'm going to try to get out another chapter this week since I missed last week's chapter while I was in the wifi-less woods.**

 **I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, oddly enough, and will probably have the inspiration and motivation to get out another chapter.**

 **Thank you guys so much for your continued interest and support! :D**

 **Nico**

It was about quarter to twelve. Nico was pulled out of his cell and lead by the empousa into the forest by a long chain. His wrists were still shackled, but his ankles had been freed to help him walk. He tried to linger, trip, and otherwise slow his arrival, but the empousa just tugged the chain and lead him onward, in no mood for tardiness.

Nico watched the moon peak in the sky, it's full glow casting down on him. It would be a great night for the werewolf, not so much for him.

The empousa stopped at a golden gate which was guarded by two winged demons with wicked sharp spears. The empousa explained the situation and the demons exchanged a glance.

"Hand over the prisoner," one said gruffly. "We will deliver him to The King."

"I have kept him in chains, I will deliver him myself," the empousa shot back.

"We would rather do this without a fight," the second said readying his spear.

"As would I." The empousa drew a curved sword from her back. "But I shall have the glory of giving His Greatness the demigod myself. I give you one final chance to unlock the gates."

"We outrank you halfling slave," the first said. "You cannot hold a candle to our flame."

"And you cannot learn to take the easy way out," the empousa hissed.

The empousa leapt at the first guard and sliced at his arms, leaving rows of scratches that began to bleed. She whipped the chain in her left hand and hit his spear back a bit. Nico stumbles a bit, his arms being pulled by the chain which was now being used as a weapon.

The empousa jumped the second one, slamming her blade into his spear. She pushed her bronze leg onto the shaft and pushed off, throwing the spear to the ground. She whirled around to the first guard and landed her metal leg in his face, he went down cold.

She pulled the second and only conscious guard close to her. "Open the gate and let me take the prisoner in myself."

"I don't take orders from halfling scum," he hissed.

She kicked him in the stomach with her donkey leg, and while he was going down, landed a heavy blow to his face. He hit the ground hard.

The empousa reached down and took the keys from the guard's belt. She sheathed her sword and picked up the two spears. She tossed them ten feet away into the bush. She unlocked the gate and lead Nico inside.

She slammed the door shut behind her and tossed the keys over. She tugged on the chain and lead Nico deep into the heart of the monsters' base.

He passed many monsters, some were ones he had fought on a regular basis, other were strange and demonic, like they shouldn't be here. Like they should inhibit Tartarus and never break the surface.

The empousa eventually lead them to a massive door with gold and bronze accents. A large omega was the centre of attention, half gold, half bronze. A symbol of Greek and Roman monsters teaming up to take out the gods.

"I have the demigod," the empousa said to the door.

After a moment it swung open revealing a small clearing lined with twenty foot stone walls, so smooth it would be impossible to climb them. Directly across from the door at the far end of the room sat a large dark throne.

Sitting in the place of honor was a ten foot monster with all black skin. Ridges of bone ran along his limbs and back pushing the skin higher. He had black, shiny horns that curled back on his head. A crown was perched between them, crafted from gold embedded with dark stones the colour of blood. He held a sceptre crafted from bones, a dark orb settled on top.

The lycanthrope knelt before The King, a storm spirit stood beside the throne, besides that the room was empty. The door slammed shut and the empousa marched Nico forward. She threw him to the ground and knelt before The King.

"My Lord I bring you a demigod, son of Hades," the empousa said not lifting her head.

"One of worth, I cannot say the same from your other half," The King snarled, the empousa flinched. "Out of my sight, I have business to attend to."

"Strong and fearsome King, if I may, could I stay for the ceremony?" The empousa asked, sounding like a small child.

"You did nothing but keep this demigod behind bars," The King said. "You have not earned your place amount my court. Remove yourself halfling slave, before I take back your being."

"Yes, Your Greatness," she whimpered.

The empousa rose and walked out of the room, the great doors opening before she reached them, and closing just as she passed them. The King trained his eyes on Nico, then turned to the storm spirit.

"You have done well," The King said. "A child of the elder gods who is a warrior and survivor of our home land. Take your mortal form."

The storm spirit turned back into the man in dark robes, his gold pendant hung around his neck. He pulled out his wand and held it at the ready.

The King rose and held up his sceptre. The wizard shot a spell at the orb on top. It glowed red, the light formed a large hook extanting from the top of the staff. The light subsided and faded revealing a scythe two feet long.

The King raised the scythe, the wizard lit up the orb one more, and the scythe came down in one, strong strike.

A line of red appeared tracing the werewolf's spine and extending to the ends of its body. It's whole being glowed red, then turned to dust. It was collected in the orb of the sceptre, the scythe vanished, the wizard stopped his spell.

The King turned to Nico and pointed the sceptre right at him. He rolled out of the way but nothing came at him. The wizard muttered something and Nico found himself unable to move. It wore off almost instantly, but the wizard kept firing.

The King once again trained the orb on Nico, a flurry of yellow energy came at him and collided with his soul. He felt the wolf coming inside of him, once he was settled, the pain came.

It was like being ripped apart over and over again, burned, stabbed, crushed, and pulled in every direction all at once. His vision went black, he was just about to go unconscious, he squeezed his eyes shut and felt a scream building in his throat, when it stopped.

He opened his eyes, he could see every detail. He could smell like never before, he caught the scent the pride coming from the wizard, the calmness from The King. He pushed himself up and found that the shackles that held his wrists so tight before, were looser.

He looked down and saw the paws.

Dark grey paws with sharp claws made for destroying. He stood up and found himself on all fours. His body moved more fluidly than his human form, muscles made every move a breeze.

He leaned forward and snapped his jaw around the chain. It broke clean in two.

"Who controls?" The King asked.

Nico gave no answer.

"Take him back to his cell until he starts talking," The King commanded the wizard.

The wizard took his storm spirit form and shot electricity at Nico, attempting to paralyze him. Nico dodged, his body ready to fight. Adrenaline coursed through his new wolf form. He turned and dashed for the doors.

They opened for him, surprisingly. Only once he got through did he understand why.

A dozen monsters surrounded him, the doors slammed shut. The storm spirit flew over the wall and landed in front of Nico.

Nico charged at the monsters, he went for one carrying a short sword. It slammed the blade down but Nico dodged. He snapped his sharp teeth in its leg and flung it aside. Nico continued to charge.

The monsters were chasing him now, he ran like the wind on a wild path, not sure if where to go.

His nose picked up a scent of the empousa. He followed the scent trail, knocking away attackers when they came. His paws ran through the undergrowth and jumped over roots and stones. He saw the cage he had been trapped inside coming closer. His paws made next to no noise on the dirt, he smelled his sword, stowed away somewhere to his right.

He took the turn and felt the first jolt of resistance from the werewolf.

His paws lost their rhythm, for a few seconds he slowed. He took back control and urged himself forward. He smelled his sword, it was close. He saw a large box with a padlock near some supplies.

Nico stormed up to it and gripped his jaw around the lock. He pulled and felt the metal break. Werewolf jaws were strong apparently.

Nico tried to will himself back to human form. But he felt so connected to this current body, his regular self seemed distant. His life was so dull compared to right now. How did it feel to run on two legs and tire faster? To have almost no sense of smell? To see only what was necessary, not what was there?

Nico heard footsteps. He sniffed the air, two, they were relaxed, probably getting supplies.

Nico tried to think about his most human moments. The one that surfaced first made him smile.

It was right before he was going to leave. Will had come up to give him a hug. Nico embraced his boyfriend, smelling the sweetness of his hair, hearing him say that they would talk every night. How he would kill Nico if he got himself into some terrible war again.

Nico chuckled, boy would Will be mad. He had found himself not only in a war, but one that he could not avoid now that he was a halfling.

He found himself on two legs, less sight, no idea how far away the two monsters had been, and a foggy memory of how his wolf time had felt. The pure adrenaline that had been driving him in his wolf form had faded away.

He reached into the box and found his sword, he strapped it around his waist and began to run, but he had no idea where he was going. The shackles were still around his wrists, the chain hitting making metallic sounds in the night.

Nico found a shadow and faded away to the safest place he could think of.

He stepped out of the shadow in Pantheon Hall. He began to feel dizzy and a little disoriented. He carried himself over to the door and stepped out, the feeling of spinning was gone.

Nico lied down near the door in a little alcove. He had next to no energy left, being the wolf must have drained him, plus shadow travelling. He closed his eyes and had a little nap.

Turns out his "little nap" spawned into him being found by the half-bloods the next day. He pushed himself up, more rested but his head was still a little slow.

"How did you get here?" Hazel asked, scanning over her half-brother's dishevelled and dirty clothes and the shackles around his wrists.

Nico tried to form words but his mind was still processing the question.

"I was looking for you but got too tired from the shadow travelling, I must have passed out." That was Nico's voice, but he was still trying to think of a good response.

"Welcome to the life of a halfling," hissed the werewolf's voice in his head.

Nico forced his mind to clear, for his tongue to form the words he wanted to say. But it felt like his mind was cotton, his tongue heavy and awkward. In a brief second of clarity Nico formed his response. He forced his mouth to obey his commands.

"Lies!" Nico finally got out.

The half-bloods looked at him oddly. Nico tried to elaborate but his tongue was not under his control. It felt like lead in his mouth, a bad metallic taste was there too.

"I'm sorry, I'm still a little groggy," Nico said, the werewolf back in control.

Nico focused on the one thing he needed to say, the one simple sentence he needed to get out.

"I'm not in control," Nico finally choked out.

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.

Nico raised his arms, which we still under his control. The shackles reflected the little amount of light, the chains clinking.

"Captured," he got out.

"Nico, what happened to you?" Percy asked.

"It was just some dream I had," Nico said, the wolf shutting down his attempts to tell the other half-bloods what was going on.

"How'd you get the shackles then?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know?" The wolf said.

Nico shook his arms violently, then crossed them many times, trying to convey the fact it was not true. He needed to just get one more word one. Just one.

"Halfling!" Nico finally got out.

Nico felt what control he had over his mouth and speech leave like a summer breeze. But he got out what was necessary.

The half-bloods took a moment to process while Nico wrestled with control over his sword arm. The wolf was trying to grab the hilt on his hip, but Nico forced his arm away. He would not hurt his friends.

He would not hurt his friends.

He heard the wolf begin to laugh in his mind.

" _So naive,"_ he said _. "Everyone has a breaking point, it is only a matter of time."_


	28. Chapter 28: The Box In The Cell

**Hey guys, this is my apology for missing last week's update. I wanted to get this out on Thursday, but I'm a procrastinator who can find distractions on the internet easily, so it's not coming out until now.**

 **So...**

 **Annabeth**

Annabeth watched Nico in the dim hallway. His face was calm, but his hand kept fidgeting, reaching for the hilt of his sword, then pulling itself back. The shackles on his wrists gleamed menacingly in the little amount of light.

They looked just like the ones on Dawn's wrists when they rescued her.

Somehow, halflings were involved. Nico said he was not in control, he seemed to be fighting against himself, maybe he was like the kidnapped, put under the control of the monsters.

"Nico, who captured you?" Hazel asked, worry in her eyes. "Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine," Nico said flatly.

"Hold out your hands," Leo said, Nico obliged.

Leo pulled some cutters from his belt and snipped the shackles off Nico's wrists. The metal fell to the floor giving off a dull metallic sound. It echoed through the dungeon.

"Do you need something to eat?" Hazel asked. "We have to keep him here, what if the monsters try to take him again?"

Annabeth watched Nico flexing his right hand, like he was testing out new fingers. His arm shot to his sword like a bullet. The Stygian iron was exposed and raised threateningly.

"Nico, what the Hades man," Leo said. "I know you're a bit messed up from your capture, but we're your friends. We would never hurt you, so put down the deadly sword-"

Nico slashed at Leo who jumped back a good five feet. Percy got out Riptide, Annabeth got out a dagger, Nico started a tirade of attacks.

Riptide and the underworld sword clashed and clanged, making a ruckus in the dungeon. The sound bounced around making it louder and harder on everyone's ears. Sparks started to fly as the pair slashed harder, Nico trying to hit Percy, Percy trying not to hit Nico.

Percy was about to disarm Nico, when an inhuman burst of strength shut down the attack. Nico's sword was headed for Percy's neck, Riptide barely made it there in time.

The scariest part of the battle was not that Nico was trying to kill Percy, the scary part was that he might actually succeed. With every stroke and thrust, he wore down Percy. His movements were more precise and in control than the last, Percy was finding it hard not to injure Nico.

No one dared interrupt, afraid of what might happen. Nico might go crazier and faster, Percy might relax a bit and let Nico through his defences, or they both might ignore the person only letting the danger level get higher.

Annabeth watched a move she'd seen a hundred times, disarming. A sword clattered to the ground. But it was not the dark Stygian iron, Riptide lay a foot away from the duel, and Percy watched Nico's sword come at him for the kill shot.

He had no time to react. The sword was headed straight for his heart, Annabeth wanted to jump in, but she was too far away. In a desperate move she threw her dagger across the room.

It sliced Nico's right shoulder, shooting pain through his sword arm. He faltered for a moment. But he was undeterred. His sword was headed right back on its original path, Percy dodged and dove for Riptide, but he was on the ground unable to get up fast enough.

The dark sword came down and when it was mere inches from Percy's back, right where his one weak spot had once been, Nico's arm looked like it had a spasm. The sword swung to the side, Nico tried to mouth something, but bit his lip.

His sword shot out towards Hazel who yelped. Nico tried to say something but no sound came out. He tossed the sword and caught the blade, cutting his hand, he held out the hilt towards Hazel. Blood poured from his fist.

She grabbed it gingerly and held it at her side, she looked uncomfortable with it. Annabeth ran over to her dagger and grasped it, she tackled Nico and forced him to his knees. From behind she put the blade to his throat.

Percy pulled himself up from the ground. "The monsters got to Nico."

Nico wiggled and Annabeth tried hard not to slit his throat.

"They're in my head," Nico said, his voice calm. "The monsters. I couldn't control myself."

Annabeth was moving the dagger away from Nico's neck when he blurted out, "Don't! Don't trust me!"

Annabeth moved the dagger back to his cold skin. "Nico, we need to get you out of here. Someone must have heard the battle."

Annabeth pulled herself up while Nico shakily followed suit. "Bind me," Nico requested.

Leo pulled out a length of rope and tied Nico's hands behind his back. Annabeth moved the dagger away but kept it in her hand. She lead Nico into Pantheon Hall, followed by the rest of the half-bloods.

As soon as they stepped foot inside Nico lost his footing. He tumbled to the floor, Hazel rushed to help him up. With the help of Frank, Nico was more or less dragged near the fire in the centre of the room. Everyone made a ring around Nico, Annabeth watched his eyes become unfocused. He made no attempt to move, he just lied there.

"What are we supposed to do about him?" Percy asked, directing the question to everyone, but basically at Annabeth.

"We can't let him leave the school," Hazel said, kneeling next to Nico. "He's too vulnerable right now. Could he stay in the boys dorm?"

"No, there are regular students in our room, they'd be suspicious," Jason said. "Any other ideas?"

"Don't leave me in here," Nico said, his voice small and weak. "Too dizzy, can't focus."

"Do you think the mind control is being interrupted by the protection on the room?" Percy asked.

"It would make sense," Annabeth said. "This room wards off any monsters. Although the protection is weaker since the gods are far away, monsters can still get in, it just makes them in bad condition. Like when Dawn got all dizzy. Like when Dawn…"

Annabeth's mind started clicking pieces together like a puzzle. He was shackled just like Dawn, the room had the same effect on both of them, he shouted halfling and seemed to be battling himself…

"Annabeth?" Percy said, waving a hand. "You went into your thinking mode, what's up?"

Annabeth picked up Nico and walked him out of the room, the others followed asking whispered questions. Once outside Nico seemed more alert. Annabeth leaned him against a wall.

"Nico, are you a halfling?" Annabeth asked.

Nico started to say something but stopped. His neck went rigid.

"Nico, what happened to you while you were captured?" Annabeth asked, focusing on his eyes.

Nico's mouth moved, Annabeth caught a few incoherent syllables.

"The monsters kidnapped me," Nico said easily.

"He's lying," Annabeth said to the others. "He's a halfling now, someone's fighting him for control. That's why he said not to trust him."

"Oh gods, Nico," Hazel, whispered.

"Guys, I'm not a halfling," Nico said, worry in his eyes. "Believe me! Please!"

"Nico, you tried to kill me," Percy said, rubbing his back.

"The monsters were controlling me," Nico said, his voice full of emotion. "Don't write me off just yet."

"Nico doesn't talk like that," Annabeth said. "Learn your subject before you impersonate them."

Annabeth kneed Nico in the stomach. He reeled over and Annabeth grabbed his shoulders and tossed him to the ground. She placed a foot on his back and held him down, he wasn't struggling.

"Annabeth," Nico said weakly.

"No!" She shouted.

"Fine," Nico said. "If you must do this the hard way."

Annabeth didn't know what to expect, but when Nico started shouting, her blood ran cold.

Footsteps came running towards Nico's loud shrieks that echoed through the tunnels had attracted attention. A pair of Slytherin boys appeared and surveyed the scene. One Annabeth recognized immediately as Felix who didn't seem too shocked. The other had blond hair so light it looked white, and a sneer that quickly turned to fear, panic, and confusion.

Annabeth could only imagine what he saw. A group of exchange students, carring weapons, but who knows what they might look like to him, holding down a shouting kid who wasn't even a student here.

"What's going on?" Felix asked, glancing at Nico.

Annabeth looked at the boy she assumed was Draco Malfoy, who she'd heard enough about from Harry and Ron.

"Felix, is that Draco?" Annabeth asked. Felix nodded.

"Percy hold him down," Annabeth commanded.

Percy whirled around and grabbed the wizard before he could grab his wand. Felix covered Draco's mouth before he could scream. Percy shoved Draco's arms at an uncomfortable angle behind his back, Felix moved his hand down.

"What is this?" Draco asked, seething.

"We can obliviate him after," Annabeth said. "Felix, this is Nico, you've met briefly. We believe he is a halfling."

"Okay, what are you going to do about it?" Felix asked.

"That seems to be the million dollar question," Percy said. "He can't stay in Pantheon Hall, it harms monsters. We obviously can't kill him, he can't attend classes. We're at a dead end."

"What's a halfling?" Draco asked struggling against Percy. "What are you exchange students up to? I knew you were bad news when I first saw you."

"Can we knock him out or something?" Percy asked. "With or without a spell, I don't care. We're not that good at magic, the less he has to forget, the better."

"I can do it," Felix said. He muttered a spell and Draco went limp. Percy lied him on the ground. "It'll wear off in a few minutes."

"I know where you could put Nico," Felix said. "It's a little risky, but it would keep him out of harm's reach."

"Where?" Percy asked, watching the blonde in the floor.

"There's a dungeon cell I found in my second year," Felix explained. "Inside is a box. In there a person can stay in a state of suspended consciousness. He will need no care and will not know the passing of time."

"What's the risk?" Annabeth asked.

"I've only tried it out with a friend of mine for a few hours, I'm not sure how prolonged exposure will affect him. It may do nothing, it may kill him," Felix said.

"If we check on him before and after classes, maybe during the night," Hazel said. "We'll make sure he's in no danger."

"Then it's a deal," Annabeth said. "Felix, lead the way."

Draco was obliviated and left outside the Slytherin common room, then Felix lead them down tunnel after tunnel until they stopped before a jail cell. The whole walk there Nico had been silent but compliant, he seemed to have more control over himself than before.

Felix reached for a stone in the wall and pulled it out. He reached and exposed a key, he unlocked the door. A black box was lying in the back, hidden almost entirely by shadows. Felix lifted the lid of the coffin-like box.

"Nico, are you okay with this?" Annabeth asked, hoping for an answer.

"I won't hurt my friends," Nico whispered.

Nico was untied and stepped inside, he lied down and Felix softly closed the lid. The cell was silent.

"I hope he's okay," Hazel said.

"He's strong, he'll be fine," Frank said, wrapping Hazel in his arms. She pulled in close and everyone just stood there for a moment.

"If Nico can brave Tartarus alone," Percy said, gripping Annabeth's hand, memories blinding him. "He can handle a monster."


	29. Chapter 29: Yellow Eyes

**Hey! I'm back from the dead!**

 **Sorry I had an impromptu hiatus last week, I was working so hard on one of my original stories, I completely wore myself out.**

 **I promise I'll keep uploading on a regular schedule again, it'll probably get better once school starts again.**

 **Sorry Annabeth Chase, I hope this saves you from insanity.**

 **Hazel**

When the first shift to watch Nico was mentioned, Hazel quickly took the post. It was early in the morning, still dark out in fact, but she wanted to see her brother. She descended into the dungeon with a golden dagger hidden in her uniform, she didn't intend to use it, but Annabeth refused to let her go without it.

Hazel passed a group of Slytherins who gave her strange looks, a Gryffindor shouldn't be down in the dungeons for any reason. She turned a corner and sidestepped a trio of students, then hurried away from the Slytherin dorm.

Hazel eventually found the small cell deep in the dungeon. She closed the door behind her and walked over to the box. She set her hand on the lid, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

Hazel pulled out a spray bottle and her wand. She cast the light charm and sprayed water into the air, a faint rainbow formed. She threw in a golden coin and said the

incantation.

"Will Solace, Camp Half-Blood," Hazel said into the rainbow.

The IM connected and a head of blonde hair appeared, Will glanced at Hazel in the dark dungeon, his face worried and confused.

"Will, I don't know how to say this but, Nico... He's, uh," Hazel's voice was shaking. "He's been, sort of possessed."

"Is he okay?" Will said, his voice soft and weak.

"He's actually here," Hazel said. "I think it would help him if he could see you. And, maybe it will help you if you see what's going on here.."

A moment of silence. "I'll do anything to help him."

Hazel turned away and pushed open the lid of the box. Nico laid inside, still and calm as if he were dead. Hazel reached down and grabbed Nico's hands, they were cold and limp. Hazel gripped him tight and hauled him up, she got him into a sitting position and watched his eyes slowly open.

Hazel helped him out of the box, leaving his sword lying inside. Nico leaned heavily on her, Will looked at the pair, his face placid.

"How are you feeling Nico?" Hazel asked, trying to keep her brother upright.

"Exhausted," Nico muttered.

Nico pulled his head up and saw his boyfriend watching him. Hazel saw his eyes go bright, his face gave a weak smile.

"Hey Will," Nico said.

"What did I say about the wars?" Will said.

"I'm in a little too deep," Nico said, chuckling a little. "But I feel much better now."

"I'll let you two catch up," Hazel said, helping Nico sit down on top of the box.

Hazel crept out of the cell and sat down by the door. She could hear everything the boys were saying, most was Nico explaining his predicament, some was Will giving the latest from camp, and the rest was sweet words that left the two wanting to hug and cry at the same time.

Eventually Nico fell silent.

"Hazel!" Will called, Hazel burst into the room.

Nico was lying on the ground, twitching and grunting. Hazel rushed over to him and sat him up, she almost wished she hadn't.

Nico's eyes were yellow, his teeth were bared in a snarl. He snapped his teeth at Hazel, she flinched.

"Nico, calm down," Hazel said, trying to sound soothing. "You were doing just fine before. Will's still here, I'm still here, you're safe."

Nico's eyes slowly faded to their dark hue. Hazel hugged her brother, maybe he was improving. The pair said goodbye to Will, then Hazel cut through the mist ending the connection.

"Hazel," Nico barely whispered. "You need to run."

"No I don't," Hazel stated. "You can and will control yourself, and I'm not shutting you back up in that box."

"It's not me you have to worry about." Nico's eyes flared yellow. "It's my friends."

The door opened, Hazel's hand gripped her dagger. In strode a young looking empousa, with fiery hair, cheery eyes, and a curved sword strapped to her back. She leaned against the doorframe casually.

"Nico!" She smiled."Why'd you run off like that?"

Nico stayed silent, but his eyes were back to normal.

"I see you're wrangling that wolf," the empousa said. "You know, the two of you are quite the same. I heard you talking with your boyfriend, would you believe me if I told you he left behind his love for The King's mission? He dated another Alpha, golden fur, your regular sunshine boy. Two sides of the same coin. You'd understand him if you weren't so stubborn. We're not the bad guys, Nico."

With every word of the empousa, Nico's eyes turned yellow. Nico covered his ears and shut his eyes.

"You didn't let me choose if I wanted to do this," Nico spat. "You caged me, you kidnapped me."

Nico shot his dark eyes up. "I'm nothing like you."

The empousa looked a bit hurt. "Well, until you become like us, I'm taking you back."

She exposed her sword and jumped forward, grabbing Nico violently and shoving him behind her body. Hazel pulled out her dagger and the empousa placed her sword across Hazel's throat.

Hazel's stabbed forward with her dagger and the monster didn't even flinch. The dagger scraped against the metal leg giving off a terrible screeching noise. Hazel moved to strike for the monsters chest, but she made no move to stop the blade.

Hazel's arm went down, what was with this monster?

"Go ahead," the empousa said. "Kill me. But you have no idea what innocent life you'd be taking as well. In fact, I could even let her glimpse you attacking me, and therefore her. Who would you the nightmare of? Who would you let wake up in a cold sweat, fearing for their life. I'm untouchable."

Hazel dropped her dagger and kicked the monster's legs back. The sword scratched Hazel's chest, but she quickly got on her own two feet. She was about to try another move, when the empousa was yanked to the ground.

Nico was standing up again, his eyes flashing yellow and back to near black every few seconds. Nico looked angry, but somehow in control.

The empousa moved to stand, but Nico shoved her back down with his foot. Nico growled at her.

"See, not so different," the empousa said from the ground, smiling. "Embrace the wolf, Nico, embrace the power."

Nico snarled. "Get lost before I kill you."

The empousa laughed. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

Nico removed his foot and hauled the empousa into the air, his eyes glowing in the dim light. He tossed her across the room and she slammed into the wall, her metal leg grinding on stone. The empousa didn't move.

Nico looked back to Hazel, his eyes changing back to dark brown. He slumped a little.

"I completely lost it, didn't I."

Hazel didn't answer.

"It all seemed so logical in my head," Nico said.

"Nico, you're sharing a body with a werewolf," Hazel said, twisting her hands. "He's in your mind, but if he was really controlling you, I'd be lying on the floor, not that monster."

Nico nodded. "You should get to class."

"Are you okay to go back?"

"I think it would be good for me," Nico said. "The werewolf shuts up then."

Hazel gave a weak laugh.

Hazel opened the lid of the box and Nico slipped inside. The lid shut and the room went quiet. Hazel looked at the heap of empousa on the floor, she couldn't kill her, and she couldn't lock her up, who knows who the other half is? Imagine what it would be like to wake up locked in a cell. Hazel just decided to leave the dungeon and head to breakfast.

Hazel came upstairs and watched the students milling around, she headed over to the great hall and sat down next to Frank. The half-bloods and wizards watched her expectantly.

Hazel ate a slice of toast before telling them about Nico, for one part she was hungry, for another she needed time to think about what to say.

"Nico's doing better," Hazel finally said. "But he's...different."

"Apart from being half werewolf?" Leo asked.

"It's like he's becoming more wolf like," Hazel explained. "We got attacked, and he took down the empousa, but he fought unlike himself. His eyes were glowing yellow. I'm worried, what if Nico is permanently damaged?"

"He'll be fine," Piper said. "We just have to find a way to reverse the halfling curse, stop The King and his army, and try not to get killed in the process. We've done harder things than this."

"Yeah, but those didn't involve wizards," Percy added. "It'll be a challenge, but we'll save Nico, don't worry."

Hazel's lip quivered. "I just don't want to lose him."

Frank put his arm around Hazel. She leaned into him, being swallowed in his warmth and safety. "None of us want to lose him," Frank said. "We'll find a cure, no matter the cost."


	30. Chapter 30: The Traitor

**I'm back!**

 **I know it's been so long, but I finally figured out how to take this story to the end, so weekly updates should be back on.**

 **But on that note, I now have things to do on Tuesday nights, so I will be updating on Wednesdays.**

 **Thanks for having patience for this chapter!**

 **Ginny**

Ginny awoke with a start. She inhaled a cold breath, the window was left open, the cool autumn air flowing in. Ginny glanced around the dorm and found it deserted. She slept in!

Ginny bolted out of bed to find her body not quite woken up yet, her knees gave out and she felt back onto her bed. She tried again, her muscles working once more. She got dressed and quickly ran a comb through her hair before bolting down to breakfast.

Most of the Great Hall was empty, classes would start in ten minutes, so Ginny grabbed some toast and booked it to Potions. She just finished her toast and sat down in her chair when the lesson started.

It was an uneventful class, Ginny spent most of it chopping ingredients so fine her eyes were starting to hurt. Malir walked around the room, watching the students closely.

A large bang came from the other side of the room. Every head whipped in that direction, when the smoke cleared, Leo was smiling sheepishly while Annabeth glared at him.

"I told you the instructions said to only add three hemlock leaves."

"Well I saw it as five," Leo defended.

Malir instructed everyone to get back to work while he cleared up the smoke and workstation. Ginny heard Annabeth muttering something about how she should have worked with Percy.

Classes came and went and before long Hazel headed to go check on Nico. Ginny hadn't received much information aside from the fact that Nico was locked in a box in the dungeons to prevent his wolf half from taking over.

A shiver ran down Ginny's spine. She had been controlled by Voldemort before, she had been so fearful after that, did Nico feel the same?

Ginny walked to the Great Hall her fingers laced with Harry's. She found her usual spot at the Gryffindor table and Harry sat down beside her. She filled her plate and began to eat, everyone aside from Ron, Hazel and Hermione were present.

"Who should take the next shift?" Percy asked the group, referring to Nico.

"Hazel loves him, but she needs to take a break," Piper said. "I'll go next."

"How long can he last in that box?" Ginny asked.

"We don't know," Annabeth said. "But we can assume forever. But that would be dangerous if we're wrong."

"So how much do you actually know about this box?" Ginny asked.

"Only what Felix told us. I tried to find something about it, but the library had nothing."

Ron hurried into the room and sat down, taking a few looks around the table.

"Something wrong?" Ginny asked.

Ron took a final sweep of the hall. "Hermione's gone. I've checked the library, common room, asked some girls to check her dorm. She said she'd meet me so she could help me with my essay, but she never showed."

"I know how we can find her," Percy said taking a bread roll for the trip. "I just need a room with water."

Soon the group was in an empty bathroom, Leo finished securing a padlock on the door and turned back to the group. Percy moved some water from the sink to create a rainbow. Annabeth tossed a coin and said the incantation.

Hermione came into view. Everyone took a collective gasp.

She was lying in a cage, her hair muddy, her clothes ripped and dotted with blood. Shackles were holding her down, golden shackles.

A shadow came over Hermione and the connection cut.

"We have to save her!" Ron said, panic rising in his voice.

Frank addressed the group. "We need to hurry before they get another halfling."

Everyone had at least one divine weapon on them. Ginny clutched the golden dagger in her hand. The monsters had crossed a line. Hermione was kidnapped, and they would either make her a halfling, or kill her.

The group was heading into the dungeons to collect the last of those who knew of the gods, Felix and Hazel. They found Felix outside the Slytherin dorm talking with a friend, Ginny strode up to them, gesturing for the others to wait behind a wall.

"Hey Felix, we were all going to head somewhere to hang out," Ginny said, trying to sound light and positive. "We're going to meet Hermione there, wanna come?"

"What's in your hand?" Felix's friend asked, pointing at the dagger.

Thank goodness for Mist.

Felix whipped around so fast Ginny almost didn't see it. He muttered a spell and his friend went limp, he landed safely in Felix's arms.

"You're getting a little too good at that," Ginny stated, helping Felix lean the boy in a sitting position.

"Yeah, it's come in handy lately. What's the story?"

"Hermione's been kidnapped and we need to rescue her before she's transformed into a halfling," Ginny babbled in a single breath.

"Okay, let's go."

Next stop was Hazel.

Felix lead the way since he knew the route best. Frank went inside while the others watched from the doorway. Hazel and Nico were sitting with their backs on the box, talking casually about a variety of subjects.

"Hermione's been kidnapped, we need to rescue her," Frank said. "I hate to cut the conversation short but we need to go now."

Hazel stood up followed by Nico. She leaned in to give him a hug, but he pushed her back.

"I'm coming," he said, leaving no room for debate.

No one made any effort to argue.

They took the secret passage to the grounds and raced into the forest, Annabeth took the lead and started towards the monster camp, if Hermione wasn't there, they wouldn't have enough time to save her.

Stray branches slashed at skin and caught loose clothes, anyone wearing a robe was quick to shed it. Ginny's foot caught a root and she came crashing down, landing hard and scratching a thin line on her palm from her dagger. She didn't think it was safe to run with a knife, but she wouldn't let it out of her hand.

Harry stopped to help her up but she waved him on and pushed herself up. She kept going, her chest heaved, her throat was dry as sand, her legs were numb but kept going without thought. She didn't have time to take a break, that could mean the difference between human and halfling.

Before too long Rose got tired. She was easily the shortest, and also the youngest. Nico took wolf form and let her ride him for a bit. Everyone kept watching him to make sure he didn't flip out and try to kill them, but he just kept running, his eyes glowing in the dark evening.

Eventually Rose was ready to run again and Nico took human form. Annabeth stated that the camp was close by, just a little farther.

The omega gate came into view. The group slowed and caught their breath. The demigods seemed to be faring better than the wizards, but everyone was accounted for and no one was dead, so that was good at least.

The massive archway made of bronze and gold looked menacing in the low light. It gleamed like an invitation.

"We need to work quick since we should all stay together," Annabeth said. "Us demigods will attract the monsters' attention, so once they spot us, it will pretty much be a fight. Let's get moving."

A couple wizards lit their wands and they approached the archway.

They crossed the threshold and Ginny felt her stomach lurch. They were officially in enemy territory. Her hair stood on end, it wasn't even like there was anything different on this end of the omega, but the atmosphere was filled with fear.

They hurried, scanning for signs of a cage or Hermione. Ten minutes went by.

Fifteen.

Twenty.

Half an hour.

Everyone was becoming a ball of worry. Ginny was twisting her hands, trying not to hurt herself with the dagger. She didn't dare put it away, because the moment she did, they would be attacked by a swarm of monsters and she would be dead.

"Guys!" Leo shouted. "Hermione!"

All eyes snapped towards where Leo was pointing. In the distance was a cage, with a dark lump inside.

Everyone changed directions and bolted towards the cage. As it came into view Hermione's hair was visible, the shackles reflected the lights of the wands. They stormed up, a couple people crashing into the cage.

Jason took out his sword and smashed the padlock, he then proceeded to slice through the chains holding Hermione down. He knelt and helped Hermione into a sitting position, her eyes were unfocused.

He sliced across Hermione's palm, no blood was drawn. "She's okay," Jason reported. "Let's go."

Jason helped her to her feet, and then ended up more or less carrying her out of the cage. He stopped dead in his tracks as he heard slow claps from the trees.

A siren was sitting on a rock just in the shadows. Her blue eyes opened and lit up.

"All of you," Dawn said. "I didn't expect all of you to come for the bait, this is much better than anticipated."

Nico growled, his eyes glowing.

"I see the traitor is still with you," Dawn added, scanning the wizards and demigods before her.

"Nico fights for us," Hazel stated. "You can't make him join you."

"Oh no, there is another halfling in your ranks."

Everyone exchanged a series of glances.

"Maybe it's one of the kidnapped," Dawn said. "Maybe I changed Percy when he was kidnapped. Maybe Ava is under my control now. Who knows?"

Dawn glanced away, a dark grin on her face.

"Should I ask our little halfling friend to show themselves?"

Dawn glared at the group.

"Transform my halfling," Dawn sang, everyone put their hands over their ears.

Nico took wolf form, but was still growling. Dawn sung louder, higher, Ginny pressed her hands over her ears harder. The siren's song was in her head, this was torture.

Dawn was lying, she had to be. No one was a traitor, right? How much did Ginny really know about the kidnapped aside from Neville? What about the demigods, they could all be monsters in disguise.

Ginny pushed her head so hard it began to hurt. Ava was curled up in a ball, tears streaming from her eyes. Hermione was on the ground, her hands limply over her ears, Jason standing above her, his ears covered, his eyes clenched shut.

When would this end? When the traitor was revealed?

For a short moment Ginny wished for the halfling to show themselves just to make the singing stop.

But ignorance was bliss, could she handle knowing one of their own was working for the enemy?

Who had betrayed their trust? Willingly or not, they were alone on enemy soil with a spy pretending to be an ally.

Well, she was about to find out, for better or for worse.


	31. Chapter 31: Willpower

**Hey I'm back from the dead! Sorry for the long wait after a bit of a cliffhanger, I tried to finish this chapter last week but I got sick and was pretty much useless.**

 **From now on, feel free to bug me as much as you want when I don't upload without a previously mentioned reason.**

 **Nico**

Nico stood there, listening to the siren howl. An undertone no one else heard was there to his halfling ears, come join me.

Nico made his body rigid, it was all he could do to keep the wolf away. But as every second went by, his control was slipping.

"Stop fighting me kid," the wolf growled. "It'll be better for both of us."

Nico ignored the suggestion and focused on keeping his canine muscles from coming loose and attacking his friends.

Someone else was put under the same treatment as Nico. And, as far as he could tell, they didn't know. His stomach did an involuntary flip, what if it was Hazel and she was attacked by the empousa and turned? What if it was Percy who was held captive long enough to be turned? Jason? Frank? Ron? It could be anyone.

Then Nico saw Ginny double over, she was panting and gripping the hem of her shirt. Then suddenly her ginger hair turned firey, a metal leg peeked out from a slit in a different dress, a curved sword materialized on her back. She rose and Dawn stopped her wretched singing.

Ginny looked back at Nico and his stomach dropped. That cheery face with those youthful eyes.

The cage. The camp. The attack in the dungeons.

This empousa was Ginny.

"Hello again old friend," the empousa said, not sounding like Ginny at all.

"You were working for them this whole time!" Harry exclaimed, watching the thing his girlfriend had become.

"I was always with The King, Ginny was always with you," the empousa said. "But it just so happens that this human had been previously controlled, and is easy to overpower. So I steer the ship now."

"So what will it be half-bloods?" Dawn asked. "Fight or flight? I couldn't care less."

Nico's body became ready to pounce. He'd been shocked and paying attention to the halflings, that he hadn't realized the wolf taking control. He felt around to see what he had left of his body, and found the wolf was controlling nearly everything.

Nico's body jumped forwards. His claws dug into Felix's back, he screamed, Dawn laughed. "Look who joined the party."

"Better late than never," the wolf said.

Nico wrestled for control, but the wolf was in command. He took up a spot beside Dawn, glaring down the half-bloods and wizards. A couple readied their weapons, a wicked grin spread across Dawn's face.

"No," Annabeth said. "This is what she wants. Don't engage."

"So what do we do?" Leo asked, glancing uneasily at the halflings.

"We retreat."

A couple people began to run, Nico's body ran full out towards the closest, Rose. He pounced into the air and tackled her to the ground. Rose let out a shriek as claws dug into her skin. Then out of nowhere, pain pierced Nico between his ribs, he whipped his head around to find Neville holding a bloody sword.

The wolf slashed at Neville, raking him across the chest, leaving bloody gashes in their wake. Rose tried to stumble up, but fell down almost immediately. Neville swept in and wrapped his arms around Rose, using himself as a human barrier.

The wolf snapped his jaw forward, Nico understood that his teeth would be aiming for Neville's spine, cutting it in two. Nico slammed his jaw shut before they could piece Neville.

"Son of Hades!" The wolf's voice rebounded in his mind. "I not tolerate this anymore!"

Nico felt like he was pulled from the scene, reality warped, he shut his eyes and waited for some terrible pain, but none came. When he felt steady again, he opened his eyes to find himself in his body again, standing in the middle of a battlefield, not the one he was in a moment ago.

In front of him stood the wolf, from before the two were fused. To his back were tall mountains, dark skies, and scattered divine weapons. Nico saw where the dirt on the other side faded into the dark stone beneath his feet. Nico looked behind himself and saw dark ridges, fissures and figures that were unrecognizable.

"Winner takes control," the wolf said.

Nico felt a weight in his hand. He looked down and found his sword waiting for use. The wolf charged at him, Nico swung his sword and metal met claws. Nico slashed down at the wolf's neck, but teeth dug into his thigh before he could decapitate the beast.

Now Nico had been hurt enough to know what it felt like, but this time instead of pain, he saw the dirt overtake his dark stone, and his mind become fuzzier.

"Welcome to the subconscious," the wolf said, blood dripping from his teeth.

The wolf struck again, and again. Nico was losing ground, literally, and with every injury he became less focused, his sword became less of a weapon and more of a distraction.

"You are not as strong when you can't use your mind!" The wolf laughed. "You're sister will cry when she finds out I have crushed your will!"

A hand fell on Nico's shoulder, he turned around to see Hazel behind him, his mind became sharper.

"She can't help you fight!" The wolf laughed. "She's nothing more than a thought!"

A slight grin came across Nico's face. He turned his back to the wolf, and searched the landscape for others, there! A figure in the distance rose and walked over, as she came closer, her face became clear.

"She's not your only sister." Bianca grabbed Nico's free hand and his thoughts cleared slightly.

Another person approached, his golden hair shining against the dark landscape. Will wrapped his arms around Nico and gave him a tight hug. "We're all here for you."

Will pulled away, more people were showing up, Percy, Jason, Annabeth, Leo, they became a crowd, Hazel and Bianca joined them, Will placed his hands on Nico's shoulders.

"Remember why you fight." He placed a soft kiss on Nico's cheek and joined the others. Even though he was just a thought, he felt so real, so safe, so warm. Nico turned back around and saw the wolf a few paces away. Nico stepped closer and the wolf scampered back.

With every step Nico took the dark stone beneath his feet over took the dirt. The wolf retreated more, just a few feet in front of Nico was a barrier pushing the wolf back. The wolf jumped forward and slammed into the barrier, he hit the ground his limbs broken, blood dripping from his toothy snarl.

"You challenged me to a battle of wills," Nico said. "And until you've seen what I've seen, you'll never understand what I've been through."

Tartarus flashed in his mind. Alone with nothing but his will and his thoughts. Yet here he was, sane and stable. What had the wolf done?

"Winner takes control," Nico mused.

He stomped his foot on the ground and his barrier expanded, the wolf was thrown across the battlefield, bouncing, bones snapping, bloody gashes appearing. Nico strode up to him, the wolf pushed up against a rock, in pain, whimpering.

Nico willed shackles to life that bound the wolf. "I win, enjoy imprisonment."

Reality warped and Nico's eyes snapped open, Percy was dragging his feet, while Jason had his wrists. They both quickly dropped him, shocked that he was in his own body.

"What happened?" Nico asked.

"You collapsed about ten minutes ago, the other halflings let us retreat after you were out of commission," Percy explained. "Then we dragged you. Just now you went human again, that about sums it up."

"I think I finally beat the wolf," Nico said, pushing himself off the ground.

"Good," Jason said. "We need to get moving. The others are ahead, they're going to get injuries healed. We're going to find as many weapons as possible."

"Where?"

"Jason's gonna try and get in contact with the hunters," Percy said. "Then were going to raid Goldbane's classroom, he has a collection of demigod weapons in there."

"I'm assuming Annabeth has a plan?"

"We're going to take out the King, and hopefully reverse the halflings. An actual battle strategy is in the works."

They hurried their pace to catch up with the others. Then they were split up, Nico was heading with Percy, Piper, and Felix to collect Goldbane's weapons. Within a few moments their group had shadow travelled into the classroom.

Nico stared at the wall of swords and knives, that would serve their small army, Percy stepped forward when Piper grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. She pointed to a shape in the corner, it was Goldbane.

Felix muttered a spell and shot it at Goldbane, nothing happened, he had missed. The figure looked over at them, he came closer to the group, his features became visible, Nico resisted the urge to shadow travel away right then and there.

A gold pendant glinted in the lowlight, Nico recognized that face. The spell hadn't missed, it hit its target perfectly. But spells don't work on those with godly or monster blood.

"Hello students," Goldbane said. "What can I help you with at such a late hour?"

"Don't play nice," Nico said.

"Excuse me?"

"You're the wizard who turned me into a halfling."

Goldbane's smile faltered. "What's a halfling?"

"You're the storm spirit who abducted me," Nico continued. "You're one of Dawn's contacts."

Goldbane grumbled. Riptide was drawn, Piper grabbed a dagger and handed a second to Nico, Felix fumbled a knife into ready position.

"You just had to blow my cover," Goldbane said.

"You made me half monster," Nico replied. "We'll call it even."

Goldbane chuckled, and the fight began.


	32. Chapter 32: The Mark

**I'm not dead!! The story is back on!!**

 **For those of you who waited for this chapter, sorry it took so long to get out.**

 **Piper**

Piper was getting sick of traitors. First Ginny, then Goldbane, for all she knew McGonagall could be a giant.

Why did they even come to this school in the first place!

"Piper! Heads up!" Percy shouted.

Piper snapped into focus just in time to see a stray dagger flying in her direction. She ducked and the golden blade embedded itself into the wall behind her. Piper gripped the handle and pulled it out, a second dagger would be useful.

Goldbane had taken his storm spirit form and was causing his wall of weapons to fly in every which direction. Felix had flipped a table and was using it as a hiding spot, Percy was blocking stray blades with Riptide, Nico was nowhere to be seen. Piper dashed over to Felix and tumbled to the ground behind the table.

"You're the only one of us who knows a thing about magic," Piper said. "I need you to somehow trap Goldbane."

"What?" Felix said. "You guys said it yourselves, magic doesn't work on monsters."

"It partially works. I'll get him to stop moving," Piper said. "You just have to create a cage or something. Ready?"

"No, of course not-"

"Cover your ears!" Piper commanded.

Piper jumped up from behind the table and channeled as much Charmspeak as she could. "Stop!"

Her voice rang throughout the room, Goldbane stood, or floated, perfectly still. Percy looked like a warrior statue with his sword held out to deflect a blade that was long gone. Piper looked down to see Felix with his hands almost over his ears, but not quite.

Maybe she should have waited longer.

Nico came tumbling out of a dark corner, Jason in tow. He took a quick look at the scene and said something to Jason. Before Jason could act, Goldbane started to move again causing more chaos, but Percy and Felix were still frozen.

"Move again!" Piper shouted.

Percy's reflexes were just fast enough to deflect a direct hit towards his chest. Jason began to use wind to redirect swords and daggers back towards Goldbane, putting him on defence.

Percy charged up suddenly and swung Riptide. Goldbane didn't have time to react, Riptide sliced cleanly through his neck and he exploded into a cloud of golden dust which scattered in the windy room.

"What did you do!" Felix shrieked, jumping up from his hiding spot. "How are we going to explain the fact that WE JUST KILLED A TEACHER!"

"Sorry, I wasn't think-"

"Of course not!" Felix shouted. "None of you ever think! You just fight and kill! An innocent man's blood is on your hands."

"Felix, you just need to-" Piper was cut off.

"Don't try your silver tongue with me! I'm done with all this!" Felix started stomping towards the door when it creaked open slightly. A girl wearing a Gryffindor uniform was at the other side of the door, her warm brown eyes looked around, seeming to miss all the craziness.

"Avery," Felix stammered out. "Wha-what are you doing here?"

"I was just looking for some help from Goldbane," she said. "But I can come back another time if he's busy."

The door clicked shut.

"Who was that?" Piper asked.

"My little sister," Felix stated. "Now she's going to get wrapped up in all of this. I need to go talk to her."

Felix darted out of the door and didn't come back for the rest of the night.

Piper woke up the next morning feeling tired and overwhelmed. With the help of Nico, Jason and Frank, all the weapons from Goldbane's room had been transported to a hideout in the forest where Nico would guard it. Leo even built him a little pop up tent to stay in for the time being.

Jason had gotten the Hunters onboard, they were over in a forest near Stonehenge and would arrive at Hogwarts in five days.

So five days was the deadline. When the Hunters arrived they would take their forces to the main halfling camp, and hopefully find and kill The King, rescue Ginny and Dawn, and somehow reverse all the halflings. Needless to say everyone was stressed.

No one had figured out what to do about Goldbane. Just after the fight Percy had locked himself in a bathroom, no one dared go in. Every few minutes a scream was audible, pipes bursting, waves crashing, then sobbing.

At about five in the morning Annabeth went down to check on him. She found him exhausted, sleeping in the middle of a soaked bathroom that was ripped to shreds. She carried him all the way up to Gryffindor tower and laid him in his bed.

Piper somehow got dressed and arrived in the great hall, nothing seemed to be out of place. No one was talking about the missing teacher or the destroyed bathroom, it was unsettling.

After finishing her breakfast Piper saw Felix leaving the great hall. She quickly stood and caught up to him, she grabbed his shoulder and turned him around.

"Hey Piper," he said normally. "What's up?"

"You seem happy," Piper said.

"I woke up a bit of a mess, but I'm good now. I had a crazy dream about some guy, I don't remember who, but he was scary. And I was super mad at Percy for some reason, I don't know. It was weird."

The Mist! Wizards could see through it, but it could also trick them.

"So have you heard anything about Goldbane recently?" Piper asked casually.

"Didn't you hear?" Felix asked. "The ministry is sending him to Northern Russia, something about rogue wizards taking over."

"Thanks."

Piper bolted away leaving a confused Felix in her wake. She rushed up to Gryffindor tower, which was no small feat, and into the boys dorm. She stopped at the door for a moment to catch her breath before explaining herself.

"The wizards don't think Goldbane is dead," Piper said. "They think he's on some trip to Russia. The Mist even tricked Felix, we don't have to worry about explaining ourselves."

Percy's muffled voice came from inside the closed canopy of his bed. "I still killed an innocent. Them forgetting isn't going to make it any less of a crime."

Piper came closer to Percy's bed. Jason and Leo shook their heads vigorously from the sidelines, Piper was undeterred, Percy wouldn't hurt her.

Piper pushed aside the canopy and saw Percy sitting cross legged with his head down. Piper climbed in and shut the curtain behind her, Percy was a mess. His hair was going in every which direction, his eyes were red with dark rings under them. His clothes were damp and torn.

"We're in a war now Percy," Piper said. "You saved us all by killing Goldbane, even if he was an innocent man he was under the complete control of the monsters, he was a threat to everyone."

"I've been in two wars already," Percy said quietly. "And I've never thought much about killing monsters, but now I'm scared."

"Percy just 'cause-"

"Let me finish." Percy's voice was cold and hard. It dropped back down to quiet. "I'm scared to kill any monsters, because what if they're half human?"

Piper was silent. Goldbane had died just like a monster, they'd never be able to tell if the monster they'd just killed was a halfling or not. It was hard, in the next five days how many halflings would they kill? What about when they raided the camp?

"I know we need to stop The King from turning more people into halflings," Percy said. "But what if we're too late, what if every monster from the depths of Tartarus is merged with a human. Then what?"

They sat for a moment, not speaking, Nico's voice suddenly broke the silence.

"Guys I think I may have found something."

Piper crawled out of the bed and walked into the bathroom where Nico's voice came from, his hair was wet from the shower, he had pants on but was shirtless showing pale skin laced with scars. The others joined Piper, crowding the small bathroom.

"Couldn't you have at least put on a shirt?" Piper asked.

"No."

Nico turned around, on the small of his back was a circle with an Omega in it. It was the same symbol on the coins, the coins that controlled the halflings.

"Now watch this."

Nico took wolf form, in the brief moment between human and wolf the mark on his back glowed gold. Gold like monster dust.

Nico turned human again. "This is how they're keeping humans as monsters. They permanently put a coin in you. We just have to find out how to remove it."

"I'll go get the others." Piper raced out of the room and towards the girls dorm, she was getting a lot of cardio this morning.

Piper ran into the room, she crashed into Hazel and the two of them fell to the floor. Annabeth helped them to their feet, in the course of two breaths Piper quickly explained the current situation with Nico's mark and the coin.

When they were all gathered the first thing they did was check for any marks, thankfully none of them had any. But what about the kidnapped? Harry and Ron? What if they got Hermione before they rescued her?

"So a wizard had to cast a spell to put the wolf and the coin in you, right?" Annabeth asked Nico. He nodded. "So maybe magic can get it out. The monster turned to ashes and made the mark so-"

"Actually," Nico cut in. "I think they put the coin in first, then the wolf used that to merge with me. The empousa who captured me said they used both the coin and the curse on me to put me under their control until the halfling ceremony."

Nico's eyes suddenly widened. "She also said her human, Ginny, needed only the curse, if someone is more weak willed they won't even have the mark."

"This just got harder," Leo groaned. "Annabeth, any Athena-level genius ideas?"

"Nico take wolf form." He did as he was told. Annabeth came over to him and inspected his fur. "The mark's gone. This is going to be a challenge."


	33. Chapter 33: Melina

**I have returned!**

 **I've felt like reading some fanfics lately but I can't seem to find any good ones. Have any recommendations? Feel free to leave them in a review or PM me.**

 **Ginny**

Ginny strode around her section of the main camp, she subconsciously recognized the place, but the empousa hadn't let her access those memories until now. In her mind she was crying and screaming, everything was coming at her all at once, but the empousa was in complete control, so she continued to calmly patrol the area.

It had happened earlier in the year, she had been susceptible to becoming a halfling, having already been taken over by Tom Riddle. So she was stolen away one night and returned before suspicions could arise.

The empousa had, for the most part, stayed dormant, not listening to Ginny's life or controlling her actions. But Ginny took nightly trips back to the camp a few times a week, no one had noticed.

Then the memories about what she did to Nico slammed into her and she broke down completely. She did this to him, he was able to fight it, Ginny didn't know how he did it. Everytime she attempted to take control it felt like she was trying to grab air, it was intangible, impossible.

"Empousa!" Ginny shouted in her mind. "Why would you do this to me now?!"

Silence, but only for a moment.

"If anyone asks, it was Dawn's orders." The empousa's voice got quieter. "But between you and me, I have a thing for drama and tragedy. Oh betrayal and secrets are my life source. I live for plot twists and-" she paused "I'm rambling, aren't I."

"Where does a monster read tragedies?" Ginny asked.

The empousa gave a soft laugh. "I don't read them, I live for the theatre. Mist lets mortals see me as any other viewer, I've been to plays all around the world. When the monsters started returning to Europe the first place I went to was The Globe Theatre."

"Wow," Ginny mumbled. "You really are just hiding in plain sight, all you monsters right under our noses."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," the empousa commanded. "Demigods get fooled by us all the time."

A question had been poking in Ginny's mind for a while now. "Hey, empousa."

"Yeah?"

"What's your name?"

The empousa went silent. "I gave it up when I joined you."

"So, what was it before?"

"I really shouldn't say…"

Ginny felt a thought travel into her mind, it was the empousa's. A single word: Melina.

"That's a beautiful name," Ginny said.

Ginny felt her face heat up, was the empousa, blushing?

"It's nothing special," Melina replied.

"That's what I'm calling you from now on," Ginny stated.

Ginny continued to walk around, after two hours a different monster took the post and she was given a break. Melina lead her to a large building where she sat down for some food. She chatted with other monsters and a few halflings, Ginny just sat back and listened.

"So you're the one who brought the son of Hades here?" A chimera asked.

Melina nodded and took a sip of water.

"You idiot!" The chimera slapped Melina across the face. "He might be one of the few people who can resist the halfling curse, now he has even more power!"

Another hit came, tears were silently flowing down Melina's cheeks. She clenched her fist and pushed herself away from the table.

"You shut up right now!" Melina screamed, she was unhinged.

"You have no right to yell at me!" The chimera leapt over the table and slammed into the empousa, Ginny felt the pain. Melina toppled to the ground, her emotions were running wild. Even just getting some of the residue, Ginny was getting overwhelmed.

Ginny reached out to calm down Melina, but she couldn't reach her. Instead she found herself being able to control her body, it was no longer like grabbing air, it was more like moving water, hard, but possible.

Melina grabbed her swords and took on the chimera while screaming insults in what Ginny assumed was Ancient Greek, she understood the empousa's thoughts in English but didn't want to relay them.

Soon the two monsters were being pulled apart by guards of some description. Melina kept screaming swear words, a tirade of rage was pouring from her mouth, Molly would have sent Ginny to her room for weeks if she ever said any of it.

Melina was dragged from the building, she was struggling and trying to break free, after a few muttered words from the guards Ginny felt a sharp pain in the back of her head and Melina get knocked unconscious.

Ginny found herself in a dark room, a body lay in front of her. She reached down and turned it over, it was Melina. She was okay, breathing, heart beating all that jazz, but she was knocked out.

Ginny tried again to control her body, but since she was knocked unconscious her body was unresponsive. She wished she could see what was happening around her, was she being locked up, beaten up, was her normal form returned, or was she still an empousa?

After what Ginny assumed was ten minutes, Melina started to wake up. She groaned and rubbed the back of her head, Ginny walked over to her and sat down next to her.

"Morning sunshine," Ginny said.

Melina gave a painful smile. "What happened?"

"They knocked us out."

Melina nodded weakly, her firery hair danced slowly, she was in obvious pain. Ginny began to feel her body ache, the back of her head throbbed. She suddenly felt like she was thrown and pulled in different directions, she slammed her eyes shut until the sensation stopped.

She slowly cracked her eyes open, she saw metal bars around her. She shifted and felt pain in her wrists and ankles, she looked down to see golden shackles holding her down, there were tiny teeth lining them, not enough to do damage, but it stung and bit at her skin.

Wait, her skin!

She was in her own body, she was in control! Ginny glanced around and saw two large monsters watching her curiously.

"Halfling, huh," one stated to the other.

"If you ask me they're scum," the other said. "It's like turning your back on your own kind."

Ginny ground her teeth. "I didn't ask for this."

"Yeah, but your other half did," the first said. "Why any idiot would do that is beyond me."

"Change forms," Melina said weakly. Her voice echoed in Ginny's mind.

"Why? So you can have control?" Ginny shouted aloud. The guards gave her a funny look.

"My metal leg," Melina said. "It can't get hurt by the shackles."

This time Ginny just kept her words as a thought. "I don't know how to."

"I can do it," Melina said. "It'll probably take all of my energy though, you'll be on your own."

"Let's do it."

Ginny felt her skin tingle, seconds later she looked down to see herself in empousa form. She called to Melina, but she was unconscious.

Ginny kicked out her metal leg as hard as she could, she felt the chains tug against her, but the teeth had no affect. She took off a curved sword and sliced through the tight chains, they snapped making a loud crack.

Now how to do the other three.

Ginny put her metal leg on the chain for her other leg and started to slash at the chain. Once she finally broke through the guards had entered the cell. They went straight for her legs, so she took this chance to sheath her sword and grab the chains for her arms.

If she held on tight, the chains wouldn't pull on the shackles, but if she messed up her wrists would get cut badly.

Ginny used one chain to trip the first monster, he came down with such force a chain snapped. Ginny used her free arm to punch the other in the face. She tightened the final chain and toppled the guard.

She took out her sword and slashed the final chain. Now she just had four shackles hanging off of her, but she had no time to figure out how to get them off.

Ginny raced out of the cage, exit, exit, where was the exit? She sprinted through the forest following her gut feeling, she was hopelessly lost but she couldn't stop. After a few moments she heard the beating of wings above and feet pounding behind her.

She kept running as fast as she could but they were easily catching up. Huge talons gripped her shoulders and she was lifted off the ground. Her hands reached for her swords, but the talons limited her movement.

Ginny thrashed and flailed but she was at the mercy of the beast. After a short period of time she was chained up in the cage. A young man walked in, his face was emotionless, he was without a doubt under the control of the monsters. He walked up to her and she got ready for a fight.

He circled around behind her and touched the small of her back. She tried to kick him but he was out of her reach.

"Human," he said.

Ginny felt a tingling sensation all over her body, then looked down to see her pale arms. She was herself again. How?

"What did you do?" Ginny demanded.

The man was unresponsive, he just walked out of the cage. The door was shut and a guard was assigned to her cage, in her escape attempt she had lost more of her freedom. Was it worth the risk to leave?

"They can't do anything worse to you," Melina's voice said in Ginny's mind.

"What?"

Melina's voice was weaker this time. "The halflings are too valuable for them to kill, they want you alive."

Ginny took a moment to process this. "Any ideas on how we're going to escape?"

"I may have one or two." Ginny felt Melina giving off a sly smile. It scared her and excited her at the same time.

 **I may now be low key shipping Ginny and Melina. Ha ha, whoops, that wasn't planned.**


	34. Notice

**I'm sorry this isn't a real update. If you've been paying attention to when I've been updating, you may have noticed that the updates have been getting farther and farther apart.**

 **I wanted to be done Darkness Returns before 2019, taking me approximately a year to write it. As you can see, this was not the case.**

 **I've been wanting to do other stories, but I forced myself to finish this first. But I don't think I can anymore. My motivation for this project has flatlined and my drive to complete it is dead.**

 **But the story is not over.**

 **For now it will just be put on hiatus, I don't know when the next update will be, if I end up abandoning the story, I will notify you.**

 **For now this is just goodbye for a while. I have three fics I want to write, a PJO fic, a PJO and School for Good and Evil crossover, and for a friend a HP and Fablehaven crossover. I won't go into detail for fear of someone stealing my ideas, I have trust in my fellow fans, but one can never be too sure.**

 **Hopefully I'll one day return to this story to finish what I started, I really do want to finish it, but my interests lie elsewhere.**

 **Goodbye for now, Silvermoon816**


	35. A Final Farewell

**So you may have noticed I haven't updated in months.**

 **I'm sorry, but I'm officially abandoning the story. It is not representative of my skills and I have no pride or interest in it.**

 **I may or may not write more fanfics, but for now I'm focusing on my original stories and my art.**

 **Thank you for all the support I got through the story, it really boosted my confidence in my writing.**

 **If you would like to read one of my original stories that I feel better represents me as a writer, I have written one on Quotev called A Perfect 10 by Silverstyx (** story/11894614/A-Perfect-10)

 **But if you aren't interested, I totally understand.**

 **Thank you demigods and wizards**

 **~Silvermoon816**


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